Another Story
by OnlyAnonymous
Summary: A descendant of Rapunzel works out a clever way to evade an arranged marriage, and still inherit her throne. Set several years before the curse.
1. Chapter 1

"Love at first sight doesn't exist. True love is when you spend time with a person, and decide, 'This is who I want to spend the rest of my life with'. "

Prologue

The king looked down at the woman kneeling at his feet. He knew who she was, and what she could do, but he had a responsibilty to his kingdom.  
>"I'm sorry," he told her. "I truly am. But you know what it is to be a matriarch. I have to do what is best for my people. The Northern kingdoms entrusted me with this man's imprisonment. It would start a war if I just let him go."<br>The woman looked up at him, green eyes red from crying. She looked devastated. She stood, eyes downcast.  
>"Would you reconsider? If you let him go, you would be the richest kingdom in all the Realms," she said.<br>The king shook his head. "I am sorry for your troubles madam, but he was a bother to my kingdom as well. I will not release him."  
>The woman raised her eyes to his. For a moment, they were so full of hurt and pain that he almost wished he could take the words back. Then they hardened, and she smiled, the smile you would expect a charming noblewoman to give to her newest suitor.<br>"Very well then. You shall share my pain." The smile disappeared, and she looked him in the eyes with a terrifying expression, calm, but terrifying.  
>"I curse you now. You shall share my suffering. You shall find your true love. You shall be wed, and no thing in the world shall come between you, for one year. Then, you will lose her, just as I have lost my true love, just out of reach." The smile crept back, and his blood froze. "She will only be returned to you when I have my love back." She raised her hands, and clapped them once above her head, shuddering as she did so. A cold wind blew through his court, and he turned his face away from the icy blast, closing his eyes. When he turned back to the woman, she was gone, leaving him to ponder his fate. He had no doubt that the curse was potent. The Rapunzel family had a history of magic, and this queen had proven again and again that she was one of their finest.<p>

The woman collapsed on her bed, sobbing. Why did they have to take him? She knew from personal experince that he was ver troubleseome. And she supposed that he may deserve imprisonment. But that knowledge did not change the fact that she would do anything necessary to free him. She lay there for an indeterminate amount of time, sobbing into her pillows. Eventually, she quieted. Her curse would reunite them. The king would release him. She closed her eyes. She was so tired. She thought back, years ago, to the day they had first met...

Chapter 1

Mirren was shoved roughly into the small cell of the red queens dungeon. The gaurd locked the door, and walked away, the other prisoners reaching through the bars in a futile attempt to grab the keys as he passed by. Mirren closed her eyes, reminding herself why she'd run away in the first place.  
>"This is better than what waits back there, " she said, not realizing that she had spoken aloud.<br>"Oh really?" came a voice from the back of the cell. Mirren spun around quickly, startled. There was someone, a man, sitting in the shadows in the back of the cell.  
>"Who are you?" she demanded.<br>"I'm nobody," he replied. "But I might be somebody to the right person." she heard a low chuckle, him laughing at himself.  
>"I meant your name," she specified. She'd dealt with this kind before.<br>"I don't have one," he replied.  
>"You are Nameless?" she asked, highly skeptical.<br>"I have a name, two actually, but yes, I am Nameless." He said it flatly, like someone stating they have a tick on the back of their neck.  
>"If you are Nameless, how can you have two names?" she asked.<br>"One is my Name, and the other is what the world knows me as," he replied.  
>"Well, since I doubt you're going to tell me your Name, what does the world know you as?" Mirren asked.<br>"Oh, I'm not really sure I should say," he said, playing with the chain that bound him to the wall.  
>"Why not?" she asked. He looked up, and she could feel his eyes moving over her, though she couldn't see them for the lack of light in the cell.<br>"Because you would judge me. I don't like being judged," he said.  
>"I judge everyone I come across. You won't be an exception," Mirren said.<br>He chuckled. "Fine then. My name is Rumpelstiltskin," he said.  
>She looked him over. "You're awfully large for an Imp, don't you think?"<br>He started laughed hysterically, and didn't seem to be able to stop.  
>"What is it?" she demanded to know.<br>He choked a bit, pointing at her. "You're the first one to ever tell me that. Most just assume I am an Imp. No, I'm not an Imp. I am human."  
>"Well, if you aren't an Imp, why do you have an Impin name?" she asked.<br>"Had a lot of dealings with Imps, have you dearie?" he asked, sidestepping her question.  
>"Quite a few as a matter of fact, and I know how they behave. You aren't getting out of answering me. Why do you have an Impin name?" she asked.<br>Her eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness of the cell, and she could see his eyebrows go up. "Well, you're insistent," he said.  
>She fixed him with a glare that could have melted lead.<br>He laughed, throwing his hands up above his head in a gesture of surrender, before the chains dragged them back down with a clank.  
>"Fine. You win. I was raised by Imps," he said.<br>She cocked her head. "How did that come about?" she asked.  
>"Your questions are getting awfully personal missy." He looked at her critically. "And I don't even know your name yet."<br>"My name is Mirren. Answer my question," she said.  
>"You're awfully demanding Miss Mirren." he said. "How about this then. I want out of here."<br>She snorted. "You're probably in here for a very good reason."  
>He raised his hand. "My being here is a mistake. I was framed, and I can assure you missy, when a Nameless wretch is accused, there is hardly any question at all. They're just thrown in a cell to rot," he said.<br>"So you're saying you don't deserve to be here," she said.  
>He nodded. "Come over here, " He said, making a come here gesture with his hand.<br>Mirren hesitated, and he sighed. "I'm chained to the wall, it's a good bet you can get away if I try anything," he said holding up his hands.  
>She nodded, walking over to him. He gestured for her to come closer and she did, crouching down next to him. He moved over just a bit, exposing a small hole in the wall that had been stuffed full of straw so the sunlight wouldn't alert the gaurd to it's existence. It wasn't much, but Mirren was 13, and the Rumpelstiltskin was thin as a stick. They would make it out if they wanted to. He quickly moved back in front of the hole, making sure she didn't try to make a break for it.<br>She looked at him funnily. "If you have had this hole here, why haven't you just climbed out?" she asked. He held up his hands, showing her the chains around his wrists.  
>She stared at him meeting his eyes. They were an odd kind of hazel, brownish blue flecked with yellow. Her own eyes were hazel, brownish green with flecks of blue. They sat like that for a few minutes, before she sighed and looked away. He cocked his head to the side.<br>"Please help me?" he asked her in a small voice.  
>Mirren was thinking very hard. If she didn't get out of here, her parents would find her. They would come get her, drag her back to the palace, and make her marry that horrible boy. And she'd sworn she would kill herself before she married him, and she'd meant it. She didn't really want to die, she just didn't want to spend the rest of her life with him.<br>"Please?" Rumpelstiltskin asked her again, staring at her with wide eyes. She glared at him, but stoppped, realizing that he could be the answer to all of her problems.  
>"I will, on one condition," she said, before she could think about it too much.<br>"What?" he asked.  
>"You have to marry me. And the marriage needs to be consumated."<br>He raised his eyebrows at her. "Fallen in love already dearie?" he asked.  
>She scowled ferociously at him. "No, I have not," she replied. She thought about telling him he would be her last choice, but she was willing to take him over that prince after all.<br>"Then why this? Instead of anything else? Eternal servitude? Life debt? Why choose marriage?" he asked her, sounding genuinely curious.  
>"Why is none of your affair," she said crisply.<br>He nodded, smiling creepily. "Deal." He raised his hands, holding them out so she could get at the chains easily.  
>She reached up into her hair, pulling out a pin. He raised his eyebrows at her, again. "You know how to pick locks?" he asked.<br>"It's not really that hard," she told him, inserting the pin into the keyhole of the left hand chain. It came away almost instantly. She looked at him with an odd look.  
>"What?" he asked her.<br>"These chains are shit," she told him.  
>He looked quite amused. "I didn't know that Royals had dirty mouths," he said.<br>She froze.  
>"What makes you think I'm Royal?" she asked, as the other chain fell away from his wrist.<br>"Oh, just the way you carry yourself, the way you talk. You've obviously been educated." He looked her up and down again, and smirked. "And I'd bet anything that you were marrying me to get out of an arranged marriage."  
>She stood there dumbly for a few minutes as his words hit home. Then she cursed herself. He was Nameless, of course. He was perceptive, she wouldn't be surprised if he could tell the future in a limited way as well. She pointed to the hole in the wall.<br>"Why don't we make our exit now?" she told him.  
>He made a ladies first gesture, and she would've kicked him if her plans didn't revolve around him. She climbed out of the darkness of the cell and into the darkness of the night outside. <p>


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

They made they're way through the thick wooods outside of the Red Queen's castle. Mirren waited until they were pretty far into the forest, before stopping Rumpelstiltskin, who had been walking ahead of her. She grabbed his wrist, which was raw from the chains rubbing on it for so long, causing him to yelp in pain. She dragged him a bit off the path he was taking.  
>"Hold your hand out," she told him. He looked at her funnily, but complied. She held her right hand out, placing it next to Rumpelstiltskins'. She uttered a single word, and a green light flashed around their hands. When the light faded, anyne who couuld see magic would have been able to see a kind of rope, bindig them together. Mirren had allowed quite a bit of space between herself and him, but he wouldn't be able to make a run for it.<br>"What, you don't trust me?" he said, inspecting her handiwork.  
>"No, I don't. I'll remove it after our arrangements are fulfilled," she replied.<br>He nodded, looking amused, but not really surprised.  
>They continued walking, until they got out of the forest. Then Rumpelstiltskin veered to the left, heading towards a village on the very edge of the forest. They were entering the town by the time the sun came up. They got a few sidelong glances, but apparently, this town was used to odd travelers. The sight of a lady in a green cloak with a holding spell over a thin man who looked like he hadn't seen sunlight for ten years(And probably hadn't) was not met with questions. Rumpelstiltskin lead her into a low building off the main road. The inside was plain, a wide open space with a few benches here and there. "Wait here," he told her, and walked into a room off to the side. He came back out a moment later, followed by an old man, bent over with age, leaning on a carved walking stick.<br>Rumpelstiltskin nodded towards thh old man.  
>"He'll marry us," he told Mirren. Mirren nodded.<br>The old man sighed, like he had a thousand other things he would rather be doing, and lead them into the back room. Mirren had thought that they would be using the large room , but realized it was for public weddings. She and Rumpelstiltskin would be married in name only, and not even that. They would live separately, probably never look at each other again after this, and since he was Nameless, he had no name to give her. She would remain Mirren Rapunzel. The room was very small, and contained only a desk and chair, and a lot of shelves. The old man walked over to a shelf and pulled a wand off of one of it's many shelves. He walked over to stand in front of his desk, motioning for them to join him. Without much ceremony at all, he began a long lecture on the importance of what they were about to do, and the responsibilities it entailed.  
>For just a moment, Mirren thought about what she was trading away. She could stop this now, break off the deal, go back home and marry that prince. She would have a proper wedding, in a much finer establishment, her parents would be happy, she would inherit both thrones-<br>She stopped herself before she could think herself out of this. The old man was wrapping it up. He would ask them soon. Her parents would still give her their throne. She was their only heir. The prince they wanted her to marry was a horrible man. She didn't need a grand wedding, she needed a good life, and she didn't want a husband getting in her way. Rumpelstiltskin wouldn't stick around. He would probably leave the castle and do whatever it was that Nameless did when left to themselves.  
>"Do you agree to the conditions of marriage laid before you, Mirren Rapunzel?" the old man asked.<br>Mirren started a bit wondering how he could know her full name. "Yes, I do," she said.  
>"Do you agree to the conditions of marriage laid before you, Rumpelstiltskin?" "Yes, I do," he said, looking very amused.<br>"Do you have rings?"  
>Rumpelstiltskin's hand disappeared into his pocket, and reemerged holding two silver rings. Mirren looked at them, wondering when he'd gotten rings, and he grinned impishly at her. She realized he'd probably only just come up with them now. He took Mirren's hand, and put one ring on her hand, placing the other on his.<br>The old man sighed, and waved his wand above their heads. "Very well then, you're married. Now please leave, I have more pressing issues to concern myself with."  
>They left eagerly, both happy that thir deal was almost complete. Clouds had drifted over the sun while they'd been inside, obscuring the sun. Rumpelstiltskin once again lead her through the streets, winding this way and that. They came to a part of the village that looked like it had been uninhabited for years. He stopped, a few feet ahead of her, and turned around to face her.<br>"We are married. The deal has been completed."  
>Mirren just stared at him wordlessly for a minute. "No," she said finally. "The deal was to marry, and consumate the marriage. My parents will simply throw this marriage aside if it has not been consumated."<br>He shrugged. "That isn't my concern."  
>She glared at him furiously, clenching her fists. "You are Nameless, you have to carry out the deal."<br>"There was no contract, and you don't know my Name. So you have no way of making me finsh this," he said happily.  
>That gave her an idea. "Well then, what is your name?"<br>He shook his finger at her. "No, it doesn't work that way. You know that."  
>"Then how does it work?" she asked him.<br>"You have to win my Name if you want it," he replied.  
>"Then let's play. If I win, you tell me your Name. If you win, I'll tell you mine."<br>He cocked his head to the side, looking interested. "You are willing to bet your Name that you'll win?" he asked her.  
>She nodded, staring him in the eyes. She could see that no matter what it might cost him, he just couldn't pass up the opportunity to win the Name of a princess. And Mirren was not only that, she was the only heir to the throne of the Southern kingdom. She didn't know if he knew that though. They stood, staring into each others eyes, carefully not blinking. Mirren didn't know how long they stood there for. It started raining, and they still stood there, not once blinking. After a while, Mirren was becoming desperate. Rumpelstiltskin was smirking. He knew he was going to win. Mirren thought quickly. She snapped her fingers loudly, and he blinked. They stood there for a moment, and then he turned and ran. Mirren ran after him. She had to catch him. She wasn't going to get this close, and be foiled by a stupid Imp. She chased him through the streets, and out of the village. He ran into the woods, and Mirren followed him, but she couldn't keep up. She was wearing a dress, and even if it was built for travel, she had to move slowly in the woods. He could move much more quickly, and there was no way she could catch him. After a few minutes, she sat down on a log, and put her head in her hands. She just sat there for a few minutes, catching her breath. Then she felt an odd tugging sensation on her right hand, and she heard the best sound she'd heard in her whole life. Over the sound of the rain, about 70 feet ahead of her, Rumpelstiltskin fell over backwards in the mud with a shriek and a splat. For second, Mirren was dumbfounded. Then she looked down at her hand, which was giving off an odd red light. She'd forgotten about her holding spell, but it had apparently worked.<br>She got up and ran over to where he had sat up in the mud, and was now holding his wrist, which was bleeding profusely. He saw her coming, and struggled to get up. He got up, only to be knocked back down as Mirren barreled into him. They rolled head over heels down a hill, landing hard next to each other. Mirren quickly recovered her wits, and rolled on top of him before he could get away, pinning his hands over his head with one of hers, leaning all her weight on that hand. Both were both panting, out of breath from running. Mirren pointed her finger at him, holding it about an inch from his nose. "Tell me what your Name is," she demanded.  
>"You cheated," he snarled at her..<br>"I won, and I didn't say there could be no cheating when I arranged that game," she replied. He chuckled a bit.  
>"You're a sorcerous. you have to keep your word," he said.<br>"I can play dirty if I don't specify," she said, watching his face fall.  
>"You must really hate your prince," he said venemously. "I wonder how your parents will feel about all this."<br>"For the last time, give me your Name, or I'll force it out of you!" she yelled at him.  
>He spat at her.<br>She punched him in the face, stunning him for a second. She grabbed his wrists, and pinned them to the ground, holding them there with her knees as she moved her hands up to his throat, and tightened her grip. He was small, thin from years of malnourishment and neglect, but he was fighting furiously, kicking, twisting and turning, try to free his hands and get her off of him. She hung on grimly, and tightened her grip on his neck a bit more. He struggled more violently, and freed his hands. She tightened her grip again as he moved his hands to his throat trying to pry her hands off of him, gasping for breath. She squeezed once, as hard as she could, and then let go, rolling off of him. He rolled onto his side, coughing. She reached over, and dragged him into a sitting postition, shoving him against a tree, looking into his eyes. He tried to cover them with his hands, but she swatted them away, and yelled a word. He froze, but she could see him trying to resist the spell, trying with everything he had. She stared into his eyes, searching. They stayed that way for a minute, his back against a tree, her hands on his biceps holding him in a sitting position, and then he broke through the spell, but it was too late. Mirren had found what she was looking for.  
>"Nimin," she said, and that simple word had quite an effect on Rumpelstiltskin. He covered his ears with his hands and shrieked, falling to the ground and writhing in agony. It affected Mirren as well. She froze,assualted by a flurry of images. In seconds, she saw his entire life.<br>The first thing he remembered, his Impin careteaker, the closest thing he had known to a mother, Kialenekver, holding him, stroking his face and crooning to him.  
>A time when he was five, and he'd fallen out of a tree, breaking his arm.<br>Him leaving the Impin hive, going off on his own.  
>He was captured by a sorceress, and she pried his Name from him. The horrible pain he'd felt as his Name had been uttered for the first time.<br>His mistress's decision to frame him for her murder and the murder of her physician when she realized she was dying.  
>A dark cell, chains that burned his skin. Scraping away at the mortar of the cell walls, making the hole he would later escape through. Her arrival in his cell, their deal, their marriage, running, gasping for breath, fighting the holding spells Mirren had placed on him. Mirren cried out, clutching her head as his life continued to run past her eyes. Then it was over, an entire lifetime shown in a matter of seconds.<br>Rumpelstiltskin stopped screaming, and just lay still, trembling, eyes clenched shut tightly, hands stil over his ears. Mirren crawled over to a tree and sat up against it, refusing to be seen even by him laying on the ground. The rain continued to pour down, and Mirren shivered. "Can you walk?" she asked him, closing her eyes.  
>He sat up, the same way she had. "Why don't you just find out?" he replied.<br>"I'll take that as a yes," she said, eyes still closed.  
>He grinned impishly, despite the situation. "What did you see? Everything I ever did? Everything I saw?" She didn't answer him. "Let me go mistress," he said, softly.<br>She opened her eyes, looking at him. "If I let you go, you'll run, and I'll have to go back home, and marry that prince." She shook her head. "No, I can't have that."  
>"Or, you could go find another Nameless to pick on," he suggested a bit bitterly.<br>She snorted. "It was pure luck on my part that I found you, much less caught you, before my parents found me."  
>She stood, walking over to him. "So, can we please get this over with, because contrary to what you may believe, I just want to get this over with so I can go home, inherit my throne, and not have a stupid husband biting at my heels."<br>He looked up at her. "You feel very strongly about this," he said, stating the obvious. She grabbed his forearms and hauled him to his feet, dragging him a few feet before letting him go. He sat right back down again, drawing his knees up to his chest and crossing his arms over them obstinately. She placed her hands on her hips looking down at him.  
>"Don't make me force you," she said quietly, getting no response from him.<br>She sighed. "Follow me Nimin."  
>He whimpered quietly, trying to resist, before he gave in, standing. She started walking, and he followed her.<br>They walked back to the village in the rain, and wandered around in the rain for a while, before Mirren found an inn. They walked in, and Mirren got them a room, requesting bandages and disinfectant be brought to their room. She and Rumpelstiltskin went to their room to wait.  
>When the supplies came, she walked over to the mirror, and found that she had a black eye. Her hair was a birds nest, and she was covered from head to toe in mud. She sighed, expecting as much, since Rumpelstiltskin looked the same way.<br>She didn't have much besides bruises, and she rubbed balm into those, smearing disinfectant on whatever small cuts she had acquired. Then she walked over to Rumpelstiltskin, and towed him over to the wash basin. His wrists were a mess, both rubbed raw from the chains. His right was cut, looking as if he'd pulled very hard against a strong rope. His nose had stopped bleeding long ago, but his face below his nose was covered in dried or drying blood, and his neck was bruised.  
>Despite feeling justified in her actions, Mirren couldn't help feeling a twinge of guilt as she soaked his wrists with disinfectant and bandaged them. When she was done, she buried her face in her hands, exhausted.<br>"Having second thoughts?" he asked hopefully.  
>She looked at him in annoyance. "I'd go through with this just to spite you even if I didn't have to do it to get out of my marriage."<br>"I didn't know even you hated me that much."  
>She sighed, walking over to the bed, sitting sullenly. "Let's get this over with," she said.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"This is an outrage!" King Henrick roared at his daughter.  
>She stood calmy before him, not flinching as he continued to rage, Rumpelstiltskin standing behind her, not saying a word.<br>"Do you know what you've done to us? Do you know what this means? NO ALLIANCE, THAT'S WHAT IT MEANS!"  
>Mirren looked up at her father meeting his eyes and holding them. "Father, I did what was best for me."<br>"You married a Nameless wretch! How is that the best thing for you?"  
>"I can't marry Norbert now. So this is the best thing that I have ever done for myself."<br>"Has this ... Marriage," he spat out the word. "Been consumated?"  
>Mirren nodded.<br>The king growled angrily. "Why exactly is it that you are so dead set against marrying that boy? He is heir to a good fortune, and a powerful kingdom."  
>"He is horrid. Just standing next to him makes me sick," she replied defiantly.<br>The king glared at her, and she glared right back at him. He broke away, chuckling quietly. "Oh heavens, what have I done?" he said, looking his child up and down. "I'm afraid your mother and I have made a monster."  
>He laughed, full out, waving his hand at her. "Fine then, keep your new husband. I hope you're happy." He looked at Rumpelstiltskin in disgust. "How do you feel about this, boy?" he asked, addressing Rumpelstiltskin directly.<br>"Oh, I'm thrilled," he replied sarcastically.  
>King Henrick looked back at his daughter. "If your husband isn't more careful, he'll end up beheaded, and then I'll marry you off to Norbert anyway."<br>She looked at him levelly. "You can't do that," she told him.  
>He raised his eyebrows at her. "And what's to stop me?" he asked.<br>"I'm his Keeper," she told him.  
>Her father just stared at her, and the silence stretched out for a few minutes.<br>"He told you his Name?" he asked her softly.  
>She shook her head. "No, I won it. His life is in my hands. You can't touch him unless I say you can."<br>The king shook his head, wondering at the nerve of his daughter. "I could still just disown you for breaking the betrothal."  
>"And do what then, live forever?" Mirren demanded.<br>The king breathed out in a puff, exasperated. "There is simply no arguing with you. You're too much like your mother." He eyed her critically. "I think there's too much of me in you too. Very well then, go about your business, Nameless." He narrowed his eyes. "I would like word with my daughter. In private."  
>Rumpelstiltskin turned and walked out of the presence chamber.<br>Mirren looked at her father. "He has an Impin name you know."  
>"Impin names aren't names at all," he replied. He sighed. "What are the comditions of your marriage?" he asked.<br>"It's a free marriage. We must, of course, forsake all others, but we don't have to live together." she paused. "I expect he'll leave as soon as I tell him he can go. He'll probably never come back." She thought about that for a minute, an found that she didn't mind that idea.  
>"What will you do for an heir if he never comes back?" the king asked.<br>That stopped Mirren. She hadn't thought of that.  
>"When I need an heir, I'll command him to come back."<br>"How?"  
>"He has to come. Even if he doesn't hear me, no matter how far away he is, he has to obey when I command him."<br>The king nodded. "A kingdom ruled by a queen alone. You will be under constant threat of invasion."  
>"A sorceress queen," she reminded him.<br>"Sorcery can only get you so far," he told her, though he knew that kingdoms ruled by magic wielders were powerful.  
>"I will succeed father. This kingdom will be the greatest in all the realms one day," she vowed.<br>He raised his eyebrows at her. "You think you'll be the one to make it a great kingdom?"  
>She straightened. "I know I will father."<br>"Oh really? How can you be so sure?"  
>"My husband spouted a prophecy the morning after we were married."<br>The kings eyebrows went up even higher. "He has the gift of prophecy?"  
>She shrugged. "He is Nameless. They're all Talented. They all see the future."<br>"So what did your Nameless fortune teller husband say?" the king asked her.  
>"That my kingdom would be the greatest in the realms. That I would choose wisely for my people, putting my own feelings aside." She stopped. The second half of the prediction was grim, but had nothing to do with the success of her kingdom.<br>The king leaned back in his chair, chewing his lip thoughtfully. "Very well then child, you may leave. And for heavens sake, wash your hair before dinner."  
>Mirren bowed to her father respectfully, and turned to leave. She was ponderng the second half of the prophecy, something she had forbidden herself from doing on the journey here.<p>

'But you shall lose your true love, for all power comes with a price, and the price for the success of your kingdom is personal sacrifice.'

She walked across the courtyard outside, to the tower where she had her rooms. She walked into the small room at the bottom, finding Nana Gertrude sitting there, looking disgruntled. When she saw Mirren, she broke down into tears.  
>"What is it Nana?" Mirren asked her, going over to sit in the chair across from her, and taking her hand.<br>"Oh, it's nothing, dear, you'll have to excuse a sentimental old hen. Your husband just came through here, went up to your rooms."  
>Mirren's face fell. "Oh, did he?"<br>Nana nodded. "Yes. Is it true, Mirren, is he really Nameless?"  
>Mirren nodded.<br>Nana's shoulders sagged. "Why him Mirren? You could have had a prince."  
>"Because the only prince my father wanted for me was Norbert, and there was no way I would have married him."<br>Nana was quiet for a minute. "Well, I can't say I would have chosen him before the Nameless either," she said, and Mirren giggled. "That boy was horrid indeed."  
>Mirren planted a kiss on her cheek, and got up. "I've got to go wash up Nana,<br>, could you bring some soap down?"  
>Nana nodded, getting up.<br>"Just remeber, if he makes trouble, you tell me, and I'll chase him away with a broom and garlic breath," she said, playing on an old chlidhood joke between her and Mirren. They both broke into hysterical giggles. "Yes Nana, I'll remeber," she said.  
>Nan walked out of the tower to fetch the soap, and Mirren walked up the winding staircase to her rooms at the opened the door to her bedroom to find Rumplstiltskin on her bed, staring at the ceiling, arms crossed over his chest, feet crossed at the ankles.<br>"You're getting the bed dirty," She told him.  
>"Oh well."<br>"She walked over to her closet, and grabbed some fresh clothes, and left, going down to the bathing chamber under her tower.  
>She had a good long bath, missed dinner, and got a half-hearted scolding from Nana for it, and went back up to her sleeping chambers. Rumpelstiltskin was still there, laying exactly the way she'd left him, staring at the ceiling.<br>"I never knew that patch of ceiling was so interesting," she told him.  
>"When can I leave?" he asked her, sitting up and turning towards her.<br>"You have to stick around until I inherit the throne. Or my father will just anull the marriage, and marry me to Norbert for that alliance."  
>"And how long until you inherit the throne?" he asked her.<br>"I inherit the throne on my fifteenth birthday."  
>"That's two years."<br>"Yes, it is."  
>He shook his head. "I can't stay for two years."<br>She looked at him. "You don't have a choice in the matter."  
>He moved too quickly for her eyes to follow, wrapping his hands around her throat, and pushing his face right up against hers.<br>"You can't make me stay," he said, a mad glint in his eye. "You're going to let me leave."  
>She brought her hands up to his face, clawing at his eyes. He jerked backwards, dragging them both onto the floor, him on top of her. They struggled with each other for a few minutes, each trying to get a hold on the others throat. He gained a slight advantage, sitting on top of her chest. She struggled, as he pinned her hands over her head. She started on a spell, and he let go of her hands to cover her mouth, and she punched him on the jaw. His head snapped back, and she bit the hand on her mouth, hard enough to draw blood. He yelled, holding his bleeding left hand in his right, and she rolled, shoving him off of her and scrambling to the opposite side of the room, panting. He stayed where he was, sitting against the foot of the bed.<br>"Let me leave mistress," he said.  
>"No. I need you," she replied.<br>Someone cleared their throat from the doorway, and both of their heads whipped around to see Nana standing there, holding a tray.  
>"Well," she said. "That was either a particularly violent fit of passion, or you two are already fighting like an old married couple." She Tsked. "And married less than two weeks from what I've heard." She walked over, and set the tray down on the bedside table.<br>"Do try not to kill each other. You," she pointed at Rumpelstiltskin, "We could do without." She looked at Mirren. "You on the other hand, are the only heir to the throne." She walked out of the room, leaving the two of them alone.  
>As soon as she'd left, Mirren looked at Rumpelstiltskin. "You will never do anything like that again Nimin."<br>He flinched when he heard his name, but nodded anyway, glaring at her.  
>Mirren got up and walked over to the bedside table, picking up a slice of buttered bread. "And come eat, you're not going to starve yourself to death to get out of this either."<br>He got up and walked over to sit next to her on the bed. She gave him a piece of bread, and started eating her own.

They finished, and got into bed. They were married, and expected to sleep in the same bed, but sleep was all Mirren planned to do. She snapped her fingers and the lights went out.


	4. Chapter 4

They quickly fell into a daily routine, and the days seemed to fly past too quickly to see. Every night, before they slept, he would ask her to release him. Every night, she would say no. A year and a half went past, almost unnoticed. They attended public events together, balls, feasts and plays. For a while, all anyone in all the Realms could talk about was the folly of the Princess in marrying a Nameless over a Prince. Then it became old news, and the gossiping wives put it down as a nasty case of true love.  
>Mirren was assigned an escort, a man named Severin. He was strong, and loyal to Mirren, and the Rapunzel family, but had no great love for Mirren's husband. They often clashed, although it was mostly verbally, only becoming pysical once. Mirren's parents were content for a while to know little or nothing of their son in law, but after a year and a half, her mother became curious, about one thing in particular, and made up her mind to find it out by any means necessary. She asked her daughter to share tea with her, in private.<br>The assigned night came, and Mirren wore her favorite dress, a plain green affair, no ruffles, or print to speak of, that went down to mid-calf on her.  
>"I don't understand all the green," her mother told her, the hundredth time in many years as she poured them tea. "I far prefer lilac to green, and your father appreciates red. You're like us in so many ways, except your preferences."<br>Mirren smiled at her mother. "We have to be different somehow, don't we?" she said.  
>Her mother laughed. "Yes, I suppose we do."<br>They chatted about the affairs of the kingdom for a while, discussing Mirren's tutoring, and the drought in the western realms.  
>"Mirren, I have a question for you, and I was wondering if you would be willing to promise to answer it honestly."<br>Mirren looked at her mother funnily. "I suppose mother. What is it?"  
>"It's something of a delicate matter, but I would very much like to know. Will you promise to answer honestly?"<br>Mirren was suspicious, but thinking that her mother wanted to know something of her marriage, she nodded. "Yes, I promise."  
>Satisfied that her daughter would answer her honestly, she asked the one question that had bothered her for quite sometinme. "What is your husband's talent?" she asked.<br>Mirren stiffened, suddenly on guard. "Mother, why would that concern you?" she asked.  
>"Nameless are always talented, and some of their talents can prove to be quite ... profitable. Now, you promised to answer me, what is his talent?"<br>Mirren's mind ws racing trying to find some way out of this, but she couldn't see any. She was a sorcerous, her word was binding. If she broke it, she would be powerless. She answered her mother's question, reluctantly.  
>"His talent."<br>Her mother nodded. "Yes dear, what is it?"  
>Mirren took a deep breath, knowing that what she was about to tell her mother would condemn Rumpelstiltskin to imprisonment. "He can spin straw into gold."<br>Her mother's breath caught. There was silence for a minute.  
>"And you never told us?" her mother asked softly.<br>Mirren looked her mother in the eye. "No, mother, I did not."  
>"But why? Our kingdom could profit immensely from this."<br>Mirren looked her mother right on the eye. "This is why. You plan to lock him away, force him to use his talent."  
>"Talent exists to be used. Can you think of any way to put this to better use?"<br>"It should not be put to use. These things come at a cost. The constant use of his talent will drive him mad," Mirren said adamntly.  
>"Have you fallen in love dear?" her mother asked.<br>"No, I have not, but no one should be forced to do that," Mirren replied.  
>"And you have sympathy for him because you wield magic as well?" her mother asked.<br>Mirren stood, raising her voice slightly. "I sympathize for him because raised by Imps or no, he is a human being, and no man deserves this," she said.  
>Her mother stood, staring her daughter in the eyes. "One day Mirren, you will understand my reasoning. You will be queen, and you will realize what it is to be responsible for the well-being of an entire kingdom." She paused. "Severin!" she yelled. Mirren's gaurd entered the room, bowing first to the Queen, and then to Mirren.<br>"Yes your grace?" he asked.  
>"Take my daughter. Lock her in her sleeping quarters, and bring her husband to the dungeons. The king and I will be waiting to give you further instructions."<br>Severin looked skeptical, but bowed, and took Mirren by her forearm, and practically dragged her from the room.  
>They reached Mirren's tower, and entered, waking Nana, who looked startled, and slightly questioning. "I have orders from the queen," Severin told her, and Nana, not questioning Severin's loyalty, leaned back and closed her eyes.<br>They went up the stairwell, and unlocked the door to her room, opening it to find Rumpelstiltskin pacing back and forth across the floor. He didn't look surprised to see Severin, and Mirren had no doubt that he'd seen this coming. He probably would have run, used magic to escape if Mirren's rooms weren't so heavily enchanted. Severin let go of Mirren, who made a dash for the door, only to be grabbed by the second guard her mother had sent to help them. He held her tightly, and though she struggled, she had no chance of breaking free. Behind her, in the room, there was an impressive struggle ensuing between Rumpelstiltskin and Severin, Rumpelstiltskin resisting capture with every trick he knew. But Severin was much stronger, and any magic that he possessed other than his talent Mirren had forbidden him to use. Severin landed a well placed blow to his temple, and Rumpelstiltskin crumpled to the ground. Severin placed his hands under Rumpelstiltskins arms, and dragged him out. The guard let Mirren go, shoving her as gently ad he could into her room, before closing and locking the door.  
>Mirren ran to her window, watching as they dragged him into the entrance to the dungeons, out of her sight. She walked over to her bed, and sat down heavily, laying on her back to stare at the ceiling. The overuse of a talent was horrible. It hurt. And though Mirren had hated the man when she'd first met him, she had grown slightly fond of him. She definitely had not fallen in love, but she admired the way he never gave up, the way he had of convincing even a person such as Mirren to sympathize with him, to believe him. She fell asleep pondering what she could do about this, how she could solve this problem.<p>She was woken in the early hours of morning by a knock on her door. "Come in," she said.<br>"It was Nana. "Your parents have summoned you to the dungeons," she said, sounding slightly guilty.  
>"I'll be along in a minute Nana."<br>Nana shook her head. "They want you immediately. Said the minute you were dressed, to get you to them." She looked Mirren over, and Mirren realized she'd fallen asleep in her green dress. Mirren sighed.  
>"Fine then Nana. Let's go."<br>They walked out of the tower, across the courtyard, and entered the building that lead down into the dungeons. Severin was there, waiting for her. She sighed, thinking that there was no point in blaming Severin. He was only following orders.  
>Severin lead her through the twisting hallways, until they came to a wooden door. He opened it, and the scene inside was morbid. the whole cell was filled with straw, from the floor to the ceiling. Her parents were sitting on chairs which had been brought in for them. Sitting in the center of the room, on a chair in front of a a spinning wheel, was Rumpelstiltskin. He looked horrble. He had a black eye, and his nose was bloody, although it looked like the blood had dried a while ago. He had his arms crossed over his chest, in the same obstinate gesture that Mirren had become so familiar with.<br>"Ahh, Mirren," her father addressed her. "You have complete control over this Imp, correct?"  
>She nodded.<br>"He has to do whatever you tell him to, as long as you use his Name?"  
>She nodded again.<br>"Well, tell him to start spinnig, and not to stop until this room is filled with gold," he commanded her.  
>"No," she said simply.<br>The king gaped at her. This was the first time anyone had told him no since his coronation.  
>"You will do it now, girl. That's an order from your king."<br>"No," she said again.  
>The king pointed at Rumpelstiltskin. "If you don't make him spin, we'll execute him," he said. Mirren looked back at him steadily.<br>"The laws of the world will not allow it. I am his keeper, and I alone can order him, or kill him if I wish," she said. The king returned her gaze. "We may not be abe to execute him, but we can torture him, hold him here forever if we wish. There are no laws magical or not forbidding that," he said. Mirren hesitated, then stopped, an idea beginning to form in her mind.  
>She looked at Rumpelstiltskin. "Nimin, spin,"<br>He shuddered, but didn't obey.  
>"Nimin, do it."<br>He wimpered in pain, but didn't do as she told him.  
>"Nimin, now!"<br>He fell off the chair, shrieking and writhing in agony on the ground as he still refused.  
>Mirren ran over to him, putting her mouth close to his ear so only he could hear. "I'm going to get you out of this, but please, just for now, spin. Please Rumpelstiltskin."<br>He stopped shrieking and twisting, shuddering as he gave in, slowly moving to sitting in the chair, beginning his work, looking like man walking to the gallows. Mirren knew, she'd seen a few public executions.  
>The king nodded, apparently satisfied, and walked out, dragging Mirren with him.<p>

She executed her plan that night. It was very simple, involving a rudimentary spell. A temporary sleeping spell. Everyone except her, (as the caster, she couldn't fall asleep) would fall asleep, and she would get Rumpelstiltskin out of the castle before dawn, the time at which the spell would be broken.  
>She cast the spell easily, though it ws a difficult spell, and then crept out of her tower. She caught herself tip-toing, and reminded herself that she could blow up the main hall and no one would wake up. She made her way through the labyrinth that was the dungeon, and found his cell. The guard outside was asleep. She took the key, and opened the door. He was sitting there, still spinning, even in his sleep. The room was half full of gold thread, and he looked horrible. He was pale as death, and there was a sheen of sweat on his brow. Mirren could see the thin trickle of magic, his own life, flowing into the straw, turning it to gold. She shuddered, a deep, loathing kind of horror in her gut that made her feel sick.<br>"Nimin, wake up and stop spinning," she told him. He complied, with no resistance, the first time that had ever happened, his eyes snapping open.  
>"Come on," she said, taking his hand and leading him out of the dungeons, across the courtyard to the gate. The gaurd wa asleep, so Mirren had to unbar the gate using magic.<br>"You can go," she told him.  
>He looked at her. "Why are you doing this now?"<br>She shrugged. "I don't need you anymore. The world knows we're married. There's no chance that my father will marry me off." She looked at him. "I suppose you can use your magicks now Nimin."  
>He nodded, and grinned massively, sweeping her a bow. "Until next time then, my lady," he said, and she knew he was mocking her.<br>She crossed her arms over her chest and watched as he walked away. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The king and queen were, of course, furious when they discovered what their daughter had done. But what could they do, really? They couldn't marry her off. Everyone in the Realms knew she was married. They couldn't disown her. She was the only heir to the throne. She was a Royal, they couldn't beat her, starve her, lock her up. They screamed at her some, and then shrugged it off. They had, after all, gotten half a room full of gold thread out of the deal.

6 years later

Mirren paced back and forth in her private chambers, thinking. She hadn't seen Rumpelstiltskin since the night she'd cast her spells and set him free. She'd heard news of him. He had made quite a name for himself in four years. And then he disappeared, and no one and seen hide or hair of him for two years. That night six years ago though, she had not released him fully. She'd kept his name. She could command him to come to her at any time. And she was considering doing it. It would be the first time she'd ever used that power. But she was unsure. This war was not going her way, surprisingly enough, because the enemy was feeding their armies better, equipping them with better quality weaponry. And all of this came from profits they made. Selling gold thread. Mirren suspected they had Rumpelstilitskin. If she was wrong, nothing bad would happen. He would come, she would send him away again. But if he was spinning for the enemy, calling him could be extremely dangerous. He could be killed, or worse in attempting to escape. But Mirren had been a queen for 5 years, and she had a responsibilty to her people. If he was spinning for them, she could call him. He would come. And he would no longer be spinning for them. She had to call him. Or she would lose this war, and the enemy was not known for showing kindness to captured kingdoms. She walked to her window, and opened it. She wispered into the wind, knowing he would hear, no matter where he was, and knowing that he would have to come. "Nimin. Come to me."

Rumpelstiltskin looked up from his spinning. He thought he'd heard something. Yes, there it was again, a whisper. He couldn't understand what it was telling him. Then he heard it again, like the wind in his ear.  
>"Nimin. Come to me."<br>He grinned, the unnerving smile that made the gaurds' hair stand straight up. His mistress was calling him. He had to go to her. The king of this kingdom had had a sorceress cast spells over him. He wasn't able to exercise any of his brilliant escape plans. But his mistress was commanding him to come to her, and that overwrote any spells that prevented him from doing just that. He didn't want to stay here. He would obey willingly. He was chained to the chair that he sat on. This posed a problem. He looked around him, his eyes settling on the spindle of the spinning wheel. He struggled with it for a few minutes, snapping it off eventually. He examined it's tip. It would fit into the lock on his chain. He inserted it, and fumbled around for an indeterminate amount of time, with really no idea what he was doing. Finally, he heard a click, and the lock popped open.  
>He stood, stretching himself out, his legs in particular. It had been a while since he'd been able to do that.<br>He walked over to the door to wait. He had no idea when the gaurd would come next to bring his meal, but he would wait. It seemed an eternity later to him, that the door opened, the gaurd stepping in, barely having time to process that Rumpelstiltskin was not in his chair, before he was knocked hard over the head with a particularily heavy lock. Rumpelstilskin would have stopped to torment him, as he had been tormented so many times, but the command was tugging him in the direction of the door. He walked through the hallways, avoiding the gaurds for the most part, before being far enough away from th heavily enchanted dungeons to magically transport himself outside the walls of the castle. He fell to his hands and knees, in the forest, as far away from the castle as he had been able to get himself on limited energy, exhausted. He would have stayed there all night, just breathing air that wasn't hot and stale, but the command of his mistress pulled him to his feet. He had to go to her. He thought about resisting now that he was outside of the castle, but the very thought of it resulted in throbbing pain in his head. He started walking, and the pain eased, lessening as he walked aimlessly, not telling himself where to go, but letting the command guide his feet.

Mirren waited two days, wondering if he was even still alive. She doubted he was dead. Somehow, she thought she would know if he was. She was his Keeper, after all, even if she had shirked responsibilty for him for 6 years. She didn't give up on him: she just waited.

He ran through the woods, desperately. Behind him, he could hear soldiers crashing after him. He didn't know where he was, nor who was chasing him, but he wasn't interested in finding out. He ran, flat out. One man was gaining on him, running ahead of the rest. Rumpelstiltskin looked back, and tripped over a log, hitting his head. The world went black.

On the third day, there was a commotion a bit ouside of the gates. Nigel's patrol was back, and they had a prisoner in tow. He was tied hand and foot, and he was gagged as well. He was fighting furiously, twisting, turning, wriggling, trying anything he could to get away. But Nigel's patrol held him, thinking he must surely be a spy for the enemy to be fighting captivity so hard. They stuffed him in a sack to make things easier, dragging the sack, and sustaining many less injuries than when they had been trying to haul him along. Mirren was in her main hall, hearing complaints from farmers, when the doors burst open, and Nigel's patrol entered, dragging a large sack behind them. Whatever was in the sack was wriggling furiously, like a fish out of water.  
>Nigel stepped up, and bowed to Mirren. "Your Majesty, we have captured what we believe to be a spy for the enemy. He was in the forest, heading for the capitol." He gestured to his men, and they untied the sack, gingerly, and dumped it's contents out. It was Rumpelstiltskin. He didn't stop flipping about, even after he was out of the sack, trying to unbind his hands and feet. Nigel hauled him to his knees, holding onto his hair as it, at least in his mind, the least likely part of Rumpelstiltskin to try and kill him. Rumpelstiltskin saw Mirren, sitting on her throne, and froze.<br>Mirren looked him over. He looked horrible. He was very thin, and paler than when they'd first met, if that was even possible. His hair was a mess, pieces of twigs and leaves poking out from it, and he was covered in dirt from head to toe, and his clothes looked like they'd been through hell and back. Despite herself, Mirren found this scene unbearably amusing, and she snorted, trying to suppress giggles.  
>She waved nigel off. "Get that gag off of him and untie him, that isn't a spy, it's my husband." She couldn't stand it any longer, and broke into a hysterical gale of laughter, and her court laughed with her.<br>Nigel thought she must be joking. "Your Majesty?" he asked uncertainly.  
>"Go on Nigel, untie him," Mirren said.<br>Nigel complied, cutting The ropes binding Rumpelstiltskin. Mirren stood, causing everyone in the room to drop to their knees. She waved her hand.  
>"Stand, all of you." They did. She looked at Rumpelstiltskin and frowned. He was still sitting on the floor, knees drawn up to his chest. This didn't really bother her, but she found it odd that he would not respond at all to a queen. Before, he would have stood, made a mocking bow, and let his tongue take him to the gallows.<br>Nigel poked him gingerly, and Rumpelstiltskin looked up at him. Nigel cleared his throat self conciously. "You are expected to stand in the prescence of the Queen," he told Rumpelstiltskin.  
>Rumpelstiltskin dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "That's what they say about all queens. What makes this one special?" he asked, to the shock of the entire court, and Mirren's dismay. She looked at Nigel. "Nigel, could you escort this man to my private chambers? I need a word with him later."<br>Rumpelstiltskin stood, and started to leave, and Nigel growled at him. He got the message, and turned back to Mirren, sweeping a bow so low that his forehead almost touched the floor. He looked up from it, and smiled mockingly at Mirren, and though she'd initially been glad to see him, now she was just worried. Even he had been more careful when last she'd seen him.

The rest of the proceedings seemed to last forever, and the queen was in a hurry to finish today. The smarter, more articulate farmers got justice swiftly. The less bright were simply waved aside, to come back to the court at a different time, and plead the same case.  
>When all the complaints had been heard, and Mirren could, in good consience, tell herself she'd done her job, she took a back passage to her chambers. Despite ridicule by other, more extravagant queens, Mirren had remained in the rooms she had held as a child, leaving her parents chambers reserved for the foreign Royals who sometimes visited her.<br>She made her way up the stairs to her sleeping chamber, finding Rumpelstiltskin sitting in a chair, looking amused, and Nigel, looking annoyed, apparently gaurding him.  
>She nodded to Nigel. "You can leave now Nigel."<br>He bowed, and exited the room. Mirren walked over to the bed and sat down.  
>They just sat there for a few minutes, studying the other.<br>"Well, I suppose it's nice to see you again Rumpelstiltskin," she said.  
>He laughed mirthlessly. "It is not nice at all to see you Mirren. As I recall, you set me free. I shouldn't even be here." If it had been anyone else, they would have been beheaded for lack of respect, but Mirren knew she wouldn't kill this man.<br>"You've become quite famous as a trickster you know," she told him. "I was getting complaints from the northern kingdoms at least twenty a month about you." She narrowed her eyes at him. "And then you disappear, and no one sees either hide or hair of you until I call you. Where were you during those two years?"  
>He chuckled. "Oh, here and there and everywhere," he practically sang.<br>"I am very interested in where you were, exactly Rumpelstiltskin."  
>He shifted in his chair. "And why exactly would I tell you?" he asked, resting his chin on the heel of his hand, and his elbow on his knee.<br>"Just tell me Rumpel," she said.  
>He laughed. "Rumpel? Starting with pet names are we now dearie?"<br>By this point she was extremly annoyed. "No, Rumpelstiltskin is a lot to say all at once."  
>"So your pampered Royal tongue can't handle my name?" he asked disdainfully, and she looked at him with an expression that was either astonished, or horrified.<br>"Just tell me were you were."  
>"Now why would I want to do that?" he asked. "I was having such fun insulting your Royal Highnessness," he said, delibertately adding an extra 'ness' onto the last word. Mirren was becoming annoyed indeed, and was gettng tired of this game. "Nimin, where were you for the past two years?<br>He tsked. "Getting impatient love?" he asked her.  
>She glared at him. "Answer the question Nimin."<br>He sighed. "Well, you never were patient, even when I knew you." he rolled his eyes up and to the left, biting his lip in s fake gesture of thought. "Let's see now, how old were you? Oh yes," he said, sitting up straight and holding up his index finger. "You were thirteen weren't you? How old are you now?"  
>"Nimin," she growled a warning.<br>"How long has it been anyway? I must have lost track of the years, while perishing from lack of your royal company, of course," he continued.  
>"Answer me now Nimin!" she all but yelled at him."<br>He sighed. "Fine, I was in some nasty dungeons."  
>She stood, placing her hands on her hips. "Specify Nimin. Who's dungeons?"<br>He looked at he like she was the annoying one, like she was the on being difficult. He put an index finger to his chin, pretending to think hard again. "Let me see now," he said. "I do believe they were the dungeons of Norbert Halglith," he said.  
>Mirren nodded in satisfaction that she had gotten her answer. Norbert Haglith, the prince she had refused to marry, who had declared war against her. "So you were spinning for the enemy," she said, more to herself than him, and he didn't answer. She looked him over in disgust. "Dinner isn't too far away: I want you clean. You can use my bath, downstairs." "I remember where it is girl," he said. "Only a Royal would forget the layout of the place they stayed in for a year and a miserable half."<br>She glared at him. "I'll bring soap," she forced out between clenched teeth.  
>He laughed, and she walked away from him, and down the stairs to Nana's supply closet, and cutting a good sized chunk off, before proceeding to the bathing chamber. His shirt was already off when she entered. "Nimin, wait until I leave to finish undressing," she told him, relieved that she'd gotten here now, and not a minute later. "Of course, My lady," he said, bowing low again. She knew he was mocking her, again, but when he bowed, she saw his back, and couldn't bring herself to be angry. His back was cut and bruised horribly, fresh wounds covering old scars. She was digusted, remembering how Norbert loved to torture his prisoners, and couldn't help wondering if Norbert himself had done that.<br>She sighed, her breath coming out in an exasperated puff as he straightened himself out. She pointed to a stool in the corner. "Bring that over here and sit down. I'll be right back."  
>She left, going once again to Nana's supply closet, this time pulling out a soft cloth, and disinfectant. Nana made her own, and they stung like hell, but they worked like magic(Probably because they were enchanted to some point).<br>She reentered the bathing chamber to find him sitting exactly as she'd told him to, on the stool. He saw the disinfedtant in her hand and guessed what ahe was doing, a look of amusement coming over his face. "You're going to help me, after all those insults?" he asked.  
>She nodded. "Yes I am. Just like a sentimental Royal I suppose. Now be quiet and don't move Nimin."<br>She walked over to him, pulling the second stool, and soaking the cloth in disinfectant. She spread the cloth out on his back, pressing down as gently as possible on the cuts, pouring disinfectant over the rag. He didn't make a sound through the whole process. When she was done, she got up to leave. "Make sure your hair is clean," she told him, walking towards the door.  
>"Why don't you stay?" he said suggestively, raising his eyebrows at her. She scowled at him ferociously, and left, the sound of his laughter echoing around her. <p>


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Six months later, after his gold thread ran out completely, Norbert quickly ran out of resources. By the end of the year, his capitol was surrounded, engaged in a deadly seige. The seige lasted three more months, before his own citizens, fed up with high taxes and pointless wars, stormed his castle and turned him over to the Green Queen, as they called her. Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, according to her own law, Mirren gave him a chance to defend himself at trial. He was found guilty, and hung for crimes against Mirren's kingdom, as well as several of the eastern and western kingdoms, and his own.  
>Mirren's eyes slowly began to change, from hazel to green, marking her as a fully matured sorceress. Her kingdom was running wonderfully. Everyone ate better. Despite what other queens said about it, she only ever ate what her people could afford to eat. If they could afford soup, she ate soup. If only potatoes, she ate potatoes. Though other Royals thought this to be madness, there was method to it. Her people admired and respected her for it. There was very little threat of rebellion and discontent among her people. It also meant that without taxes having to pay for the feasts normally typical of Royals, the taxes were much lower, and supported the army mostly, and only going up during times of war. The extra that didn't go into keeping the army on hand, ready to fight on a moment's notice, went into the constructin of public buildings: Libraries, universities, and whatever else the Queen could think of to better her kingdom. Anyone could visit these, from the richest nobleman, to the poorest farmer. She was a great queen, and her kingdom prospered under her. But there was one issue, that was brought to her attention by the members of her privy council, that she was none too eager to solve. She needed an heir. Her and her husband had done nothing more than sleep in the same bed since their wedding night, and for approximately six out of eight years they hadn't even slept in the same bed. They had no desire to do more than that. She despised him, he held her in contempt, and though she was born a sorceress, so that magic came naturally to her, he had to pay a price for his. The price he payed was the abandonment of the pleasures of the flesh. And he had no trouble paying.<br>But now she needed an heir. She was twenty-one, a time by which most married queens(And some unmarried queens) had heirs for their kingdoms. If she didn't secure an heir, her kingdom would fall into chaos. She hadn't seen her husband since Norbert's execution, almost a year ago. She'd only called him to her once, in the nearly eight years they'd known each other. Now she would call him again. She did, the exact same way she had before, whispering his Name into the wind, with a command attached. Then she waited.

Rumpelstiltskin was sleeping at the time. He'd taken to sleeping during the day, for no reason other than he could go unnoticed more easily by night. And since he was now one of the most wanted men alive in several kingdoms( A rather immpressive feat, he thought), he preffered to go unnoticed. His wife would get him out of prison, or hanging if he was caught, but he preffered to avoid her. She would require an heir some day, and he hoped to put enough disance between them so that when that day did come, he might not hear her call. But, alas, it was futile, for that beautiful summer morning, out of a dead sleep and a pleasant dream in the boughs of an oak tree, he heard a dreaded sound: his wife's voice.  
>"Nimin. Come to me now."<br>He woke with a start, and fell out of his tree in surprise. The nymph in that tree had grown a little fond of him: he had, after all, slept in her tree for the past two months. His wife was the Green Queen, who was known to the nymphs as the one who used rock in the place of wood. And he was strikingly handsome to the eyes of nymphs. All these things added up to make his presence in her branches a great honor.  
>"Leaving so soon?" she asked, peeking at him from behind the trunk of her tree, green eyes wide.<br>He smiled at her. "Yes dearie, my wife calls."  
>She nodded as though she understood. "Well, you'd better be going Imp." She didn't say it as an insult. Nymphs and Imps were actually close cousins, and got along quite well. And while Rumplelstiltskin was not an Imp, he looked quite like one, despite the fact that he was taller than most Imps. "If you are ever around this area of the woods, and need another tree to sleep in, you are always welcome here," she said, plucking a leaf fom her tree. It immediately crystalized in her hand, and she gave it to him.<br>He smiled again. "Thank you," he said, tucking the leaf into a pocket, and then grimacing as his wife's impatience showed in her command, as a sharp pain in his temple.  
>The nymph saw. "You go now," she said, waving him off. He turned, running through the trees moving south. She watched him go, smiling.<p>

It took him a month, moving as slowly, and dawdling as much as was at all humanly( Or Impinly) possible. But he finally made it to her capitol, and up the streets to her castle, modest compared to most that he'd seen in his travels.  
>He was not captured and dragged in in a sack this time. Everyone knew him, and everyone was watching him. This would have made him uncomfortable anywhere but here, but, by his Mistress's own command, he was forbidden to deal with her subjects, so he was not wanted here.<br>At the gate, they were expecting him. They directed him straight to her private chambers. Nana was sitting by the fire. Sh eyed him in disapproval, then went back to rocking and knitting as he ascended the staircase. He laid down on her bed, waiting, arms crossed over his chest, feet crossed at the ankles, staring at the same patch of ceiling he always stared at when he was waiting in this room. She had repainted the ceiling, a very light shade of green. He tore his gaze from the patch of ceiling, taking the time to avtually look around, and saw taht the whole room had been redone in green. Green walls, green furniture, green carpeting, green bedding. He had a thought, and got up, opening the door. Sure enough, carved into the wood, was her standard, the winged fox, surounded by a wreath of roses, and, of course, her family name, in white lettering. Rapunzel. He shook his head, and laid back down on the bed to wait.

A mesenger was sent to Mirren, who was in the middle of negtiations with Elisa Queridon(Becuase she signed her orders E.Q., her subjects had a nickname for her: Evil Queen.), via Mirror. She came out of her Mirror room in a very good mood. She had arranged an alliance with Queridon, and her kingdom would benefit from it greatly. Then she saw the boy from the gaurd house, and although she hoped he was here to give her better news, he told her that her husband had arrived. She sighed, and dismissed him. Now she was going to have to deal with Rumpelstiltskin.

Rumpelstiltskin, who had been dozing lightly, woke up quickly as he heard the door opening. Mirren saw him, laying in exactly the same way he always did, arms crossed on his chest, and feet crossed at the ankles, staring at the same patch of ceiling. "More interesting than last time?" she asked him.  
>"Oh yes, by ten times," he replied. "Why did you call me mistress?"<br>She started pacing back and forth in agitation. "A very pressing issue has come to my attention," she began.  
>"Have you finally realized that you need to enter into war with the northern kingdoms?" he asked jokingly.<br>She stopped pacing, put her hands on her hips, and glared at him. "No, Rumpelstiltskin, I need an heir."  
>He froze, then sat up slowly, leveling her with an odd look. "That's not happening," he said softly.<br>"I like the idea even less than you do-"  
>"That simply isn't possible," he interupted her.<br>"Well, apparently it is. I don't like it either, but it has to happen. I'm not going to have built my entire kingdom up to this point, just to have it all disappear when I die."  
>"Then why don't you anull this marriage, and go marry nice prince?" he asked.<br>"Because I'm a sorceress. Divorce is not an option for me. I made vows when we were married, and if I break any promise I make, ever, I'll lose my powers. I don't like you, but I'll sleep with you if it means I can get an heir, and continue to practice magic."  
>His shoulders sagged, and he looked down. Then he raised his head, a look of extreme hatred in his eyes. He got up and walked over to her, pushing his face right up close to hers. "I have an arrangment. I can't practice magic if I'm fucking you every other day," he spat at her venemously.<br>She glared right into his eyes, and he glared right back. They stayed that way for a few minutes, arms on hips, neither blinking.  
>"You can do this willingly, or I can order you to," she told him flatly. "I need an heir, for my people, and my kingdom."<br>"You're willing to sacrifice so much for your kingdom," he said, studying her. "What happens when you fall in love with some daft prince? Since you can't break your vows, or you'll lose your powers," he said, a smile creeping onto his face. "Will you give up true love to be a sorceress queen? For the good of your kingdom? Are you willing to do that, Mirren?" he said, turning her name into an insult. "How far are you willing to go for the good of your kingdom?"  
>She stopped glaring at him, instead looking at him steadily, calmly, despite the desperarate feeling inside her. She remembered his prophecy. "As far as it takes," she said, not revealing what she felt. "Now, are you going to come to me willingly tonight, or do I have to order you to?"<br>He continued to glare at her. "I'll be here. But this won't last forever mistress. I'll find a way to make you release me." He pushed past her, walking out of the room.

Two months past by, and there was still no child. Rumpelstiltskin was not happy at all. He couldn't make his deals, and so, in his opinion, he couldn't live properly. Then one day, an idea hit him. Mirren needed a child. She was as desperate for one as he was (Although for different reasons), and if he could make a deal for one, then she would take the child, and let him leave, probably banish him so she didn't have to lay eyes on him. The one problem with this plan was, that if he couldn't practice magic, he couldn't bind the people he made the deals with to a contract. And they would try to get away without paying the price for his services. And no one was going to give him a child for work around the garden. He thought about this for several days straight, and then, a solution hit him, out of the blue during dinner. He jumped out of his seat, and ran out the doors, attracting some curious looks from the rest of the people eating there. Mirren had an appointment with the doctor. She wouldn't notice his absence, and wouldn't know he was missing for a while. He went to her tower rooms,(Which he thought it was ridiculous to keep when there were chambers fit for a queen in the castle) and made his way up to the room at the very top, panting from running up the stairs. The door was not locked, which he found surpising, but then again, this room was on top of a tower which only a handful of people could enter without being evaporated, so she must not have felt the need to lock it. Despite his mad dash up the stairs, he opened this door very carefully, and stepped into the room gingerly. This room was probably the most dangerous room in the kingdom. If he touched the wrong thing, he could be turned into a reptile, frozen, or blown up. He made his way across a bare stone floor, avoiding the tables, to her cabinets. He opened them, one after another, carefully looking the contents over, before finally seeing what he was looking for, in a jar between a book and a blue rock. It was a spell for capturing fairies. He looked it over carefully. This particular spell was designed to handicap, not kill. Any fairy it was used on would be turned into a butterfly for a year. His plan was quite simple: find a fairy, use the spell to handicap it, and steal it's wand. Anyone else would have been horrified by this plan of action, but he was raised by Imps, who had no great love of fairies. He took the spell, and slipped out of Mirren's rooms.

It had taken him a week to reach the nearest kingdom in which his mistress allowed him to make his deals. He had no particular plan to find a fairy, he just wandered around, hoping that luck would decide it wanted to play a nasty trick on a fairy today. Now, if Imps go looking ot cause trouble, they normally find trouble to cause. Tonight was no different. He was quite discouraged, after searching all day, and not finding a fairy, or anything slightly resembling a fairy(If you didn't count ugly garden statues). He sat in the shadow, watching the fireworks coming up from the castle.  
>A glimmer to his right caught his eye, and his head snapped towards it to see, what else, but a fairy godmother, and what he assumed was her god-daughter. And, as luck would have it, she had her wand with her. He stood, quickly uncapping the jar, and reaching in to grab the spell. It burned his hand, and he threw it as hard as he could at the fairy, watching in satisfaction as she disappeared, and her wand clattered to the ground. The young woman looked on in horror as he walked over and picked up her wand, smiling triumphantly.<br>"What did you do?" she said sounding panicked.  
>"Now now," he said. "I got what I wanted. There's no need to be frightened."<br>"No need? You just killed my fairy godmother. She was trying to help me!" the girl protested.  
>"Was she?" he asked, waving the wand in front of her face. "Do you know what this is?" he asked.<br>"Pure magic?" she said.  
>"Pure evil," he replied. "Trust me, I've done you a favor. All magic comes with a price. Go on about your life. And thank your lucky stars you've still got something to go back to."<br>"My life is wretched," she told him.  
>"Then change it," he held up the wand. "You can't handle this," he said turning to walk away.<br>"Wait, please wait she said, running to catch up to him. "I can handle it. Please, I'll do anything to get out of here, anything." "Anything?" he asked, beginning to think he may have found all he needed in one night.  
>"Do you know how to use that wand, Mr..."<br>"Rumpelstiltskin," he said, knowing now he had found someone to deal with, and a wand. How convenient. He rose from his bow. "And yes, of course I do."  
>"Then help me," she said.<br>"Well if I do," he said. "And you can indeed shoulder the ... consequences. Then you'll owe me a favor," he told her.  
>"Name it," she said. "What do you want?"<br>He leaned in, pushing his face right up to hers. "Something precious," he said.  
>"I have nothing," she said.<br>"Oh, but you will," he said. "With this wish will come riches more than you know."  
>"I care nothing for riches. I'll give you anything you wnat, just get me out of here."<br>He grinned at her impishly. "Now you're talking," he said.  
>"Well, how does it work?" she asked, obviously trying to put a lid on her excitement. Yes, he'd gotten very lucky tonight.<br>"Fear not," he said. "My needs are small. And all you have to do is sign on the dotted line," he said, whisking a contract out of thin air using the wand's power. He looked at her. "Do we have a deal?" he asked.  
>"Yes," she said. "Yes, thank you." He slung the contract over his shoulder, crouching down so she could sign. The scratch of the quill on the paper was the sweetest sound he'd ever heard in his whole life. He stood, and glanced at the contract in satifaction. Ella Scinder, her name was. He folded the paper in half, and tucked it into one of his many hidden pockets.<br>He waved the wand slightly over her, and watched as a purple cloud formed around her. The cloud cleared, and he admired his handiwork. She was dressed in a lovely blue gown, with diamonds around her neck and in her hair. She did, indeed, look like a princess. She looked down at her dress, then back at him, smiling. He chuckled.  
>She looked down at the slippers that were lying on the ground next to her. "Glass?" she asked.<br>"Every story needs a memorable detail," he said. "Let's see how they fit shall we?"  
>She stepped into them, smiling in delight when she found they fit her perfectly.<br>"Now you have a good time," he said. "But be sure to watch the clock." He waved the wand once more, and she vanished, whisked off to her ball by magic. He turned, and walked away to find a tree to sleep in, satisfied that he would soon be free to do as he pleased once more.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Mirren was puzzled by the absence of her husband. But she was not worried. Her appointment with the doctor had changed her life, for the better she hoped. She was pregnant. Now she could leave Rumpelstiltskin to his own devices. As far as she could see, she would never have lay eyes on him after this. And she was not saddened by this in the least.

After a month later, after his wife had still not called him to her, Rumpelstiltskin had a problem. He missed Mirren. This feeling confounded him. He had never felt anything quite like it before. Like a hole were his hatred and contempt for Royals and Nobles had been. Or no, he still hated Royals and Noblemen. He just didn't have those feelings for his wife. He was very confused, so he did the only thing he could think of to do to solve this problem: he went back to her. It took him a week to make the journey, moving as quickly as he could. The gaurds at the gate were very surprised to see him. He went to her private rooms to wait for her, figuring she would show up there sooner or later. Upon her seeing him, Nana, who had been reorganizing her supply closet, almost jumped out of her skin. When she regained her composure, she glared at him like he was the reason for every problem she'd ever had in her entire life.  
>"What are you doing back here, Imp?" she spat at him.<br>"Now Nana, I'm just here to see my wife. Is that really a crime?" he asked.  
>She huffed, probably thinking he was making fun, as usual. "Very well then, I suppose. She's up there, sleeping. But the slightest hint of trouble, and I'm coming up with a broom Imp," she told him, and he got from the expression on her face that she was by no means joking.<br>He bowed to her mockingly. "Yes my lady, of course." She threw a bar of soap at him, and he dodged it, running up the stairway as she hurled insults and more soap up after him. He got to Mirren's bedroom door, and paused before opening it softly. Inside, Mirren was asleep in her bed. He tiptoed across the floor to the bed, despite the fact that Mirren slept more heavily than anyone he'd ever heard of in his life. She had slept through and attack on her castle once, and hadn't woken up until a catupult took off the top floor of her tower. But she was beautiful when she slept, he didn't know why he'd never seen that before. And she hated being woken up. He didn't take any chances. He slipped into the bed next to her, pulling the covers around them both, wrapping his arms around her. He fell asleep quickly.

Mirren woke up to the oddest sensation. She felt warm, safe. She opened her eyes, to find that she was being held. Someone, during the time that she was asleep, had snuck into her bed, and the two of them had eventually ended up with the other person's arms around her, her face tucked into their chest. She shifted slightly, trying to see who this was, and finding, to her great surprise that it was her husband. She pulled out of his embrace, not quite knowing what to think of this. She sat there for a few miutes, thinking over exactly what would possess her husband, who she knew hated her heart and soul, to creep into bed with her, and hold her close as a lover. She came to the conclusion that he must have arrived sometime when she was sleeping, come to bed because he was weary from his travels, and they had ended up in that position sometime when they were both asleep. Despite herself, she was glad he was back. She'd been relieved when she first found he was gone, only to find later on that she missed him. But she figured that it was simply her pregnant brain, wanting the father of her child to come home. Maternal instincts and all that. She got up. She didn't have much to do these days. The doctor had said that stress was bad for the child, so she had placed her most trusted advisor, Cecil Lankenson, on her throne as regent until she had the baby. She walked out of her tower, Nana trailing close behind, clucking and cooing over her like a mother hen. It was raining outside, so she reentered her tower, and took one of the passages leading out of it, and to the main building. She went to the Music Room. She'd been spending quite a bit of time there lately, practicing a piece of music that had confounded her since her childhood lessons. Over the month she'd been pregnant though, and unable(Or not allowed by Nana, one could say) to do much besides walk around the castle, play board games in her rooms, and make sweet music in the Music Room, she'd gotten quite good at playing piano. She sat down and started playing, a familiar tune, complicated enough to give her a bit of trouble playing, but simple enough to remember. She played, and when she finished, she started over again, losing herself in the music. She didn't know how much time passed, or how many times over she played the song, but the cycle was broken when she finished the song, and heard clapping behind her. She turned, to see Rumpelstiltskin stitting next to Nana on the bench. Or rather, they were sitting on the same bench. Nana had moved all the way down the bench, as far away from Rumpelstiltskin as she could get. He was the one clapping. He got up and walked over to her, and odd expression in his eyes. "I didn't know you played," he said.  
>She nodded. "I had lessons as a child," she told him.<br>"Yes, of course, all Royals must excel at everything, even that which is not essential to ruling," he said. He paused, the odd look coming back, replacing the humorous expression in his eyes. "Martha told me you were with child," he said, using Nana's proper name. Mirren simply nodded. "Was that why you didn't call me back?" he asked.  
>"Yes," she said. He looked quite awkward, twiddling with his wedding ring and tapping his foot.<br>"Mirren, I know you have no great love for me," he began.  
>"That, Rumpel, is a severe understatement," she said, her comment not seeming to help his confidence at all.<br>He nodded. "Yes, I suppose it is. And I'm not all that fond of you," he said, although Mirren thought he made a bit of a funny face, like he was forcing the words out. "But I would like to stay," he finished, possibly the shortest speach Mirren had heard in her entire life.  
>She cocked her head to the side. "And why would you want to do that?" she asked, somewhat harshly.<br>He fiddled with his ring some more, and looked down at his feet, mumbling something that Mirren didn't hear.  
>She shook her head. "I couldn't hear that Rumpel."<br>He raised his head, and looked her right in the eye, sending a shiver down her spine. "I want my child to know who I am," he told her, and she had never heard or seen him more serious in all the time she'd known him. She nodded. "I'll think about that," she told him. He stopped fiddling with his ring, sliding it back on his finger.  
>"Thank you," he told her, and she was quite impressed by that. She continued to eye his fingers. She held out her hand.<br>"Come here for a minute," she said. He came. She took his hand, turning it over, looking at his fingers in particular. She looked back up at him. He had an amused expression on his face.  
>"What is so interesting about my hands?" he asked her.<br>She shrugged. "You have good hands. Good for playing," she indicated the piano.  
>He raised his eyebrows. "No one ever told me that before," he said.<br>"Would you like to learn to play?" she asked him.  
>He cocked his head to the side. "You would teach me?" he asked, sounding either confused, or amused.<br>She shrugged. "You have good hands," she repeated. "It would be a waste not to teach you. Do you play at all?"  
>"I play some," he allowed.<br>She nodded. "Play something," she said, getting up to stand beside him.  
>He did, and played pretty well, with only a few mistakes. She corrected his posture, and straightened his wrists out a few times. He played decently, but his fingering techniques were wrong. When he finished, she started him again, using the same technique her teacher had to correct her fingering, placing her hands over his, binding them together with a bit of magic, and playing the song for him. They repeated this procedure several times, losing track of how long they were there. They only stopped when Nana insisted Mirren needed a break, to eat, and to take a nap. Mirren would have waved her off, but her husband, damn his treacherous guts, sided with Nana, and together, they steered her out of the music room, through the passage, and into her rooms.<p>

The next weeks passed in quite a similar manner, nothing exciting happening. Rumpelstiltskin spent as much time as he possibly could with Mirren, though Nana was almost always watching them. Mirren had had him sleeping in the guest rooms for a while, but then allowed him to sleep with her. For the first few days, they'd tried to sleep on opposite sides of the bed, but Mirren always ended up waking in his arms, and eventually she didn't even bother trying to keep sides of the bed assigned. One day, Nana, Mirren and Rumpelstiltskin were going back to Mirren's chambers, coming back from the gardens. When they got there, Nana rounded on Rumpelstiltskin, very suddenly, causing him to jump back a bit in alarm at the proximity of her face to his.  
>"Go get food for your wife, Imp," she spat the words at him. He complied, rushing to get out of the tower before she started throwing things at him. Nana waited a few minutes, then turned to Mirren, her face softening a bit.<br>"Well? How are you going to break it to him?" she asked.  
>Mirren was confused. "Break what to him?" she asked.<br>"That he will not be allowed to stay," Nana said flatly.  
>Mirren frowned, remembering. She'd forgotten about that. "I was going to tell him he could stay, actually," Mirren said.<br>Nana shook her head. "No, he cannot be allowed around the child."  
>"Why not Nana?" she asked.<br>"He is an Imp. Your child will be the next heir to the throne. Your child needs the best examples set possible. An Imp will help it in no way," Nana said.  
>What she was saying was beginning to dawn on Mirren. "You want me to send him away. To tell him he can never come back. To forbid him to see his own child."<br>Nana nodded.  
>Mirren shook her head. "How can you ask me to do that Nana?"<br>Nana locked eyes with her. "I expect you to do it for the good of your own child."  
>"How can it be good for my child to live her life without a father?" Mirren demanded.<br>"Are you really saying that because you think your child needs him, or because you know you would miss him?" Nana asked her. That made Mirren pause. Did she really think her child needed to know it's father? Or was she selfishly choosing to let him stay, for her own happiness? She remembered the prophecy he'd spouted the morning after their wedding. She would lose her own true love, for the good of her kingdom. He'd asked her, how far was she willing to go to do what was best for her kingdom? She would never have guessed that she would have to make this choice. Her eyes grew hot, and a tear leaked over, running down her cheek.  
>Nana walked over, sitting next to Mirren on the bed. She took her hand. "I know this is hard for you child," she told her gently. "But when you were coronated, you swore to make the best decisions you could for the good of the kingdom, no matter what it cost you personally. You need to choose now. Rumpelstiltskin, or your kingdom. Your people."<br>Mirren hung her head. When she looked up, her eyes were hard. No more tears glistened in them.  
>"Fine," she said. "Rumpelstiltskin will leave."<br>Nana nodded in satisfaction. "When will you tell him?" she asked.  
>"In the morning. I don't want to see him before then Nana. Give him a guest room."<br>She nodded, and left. Mirren laid back, and closed her eyes.

She woke early the next morning, sneaking out past Nana, into the Music Room. She played. She let her fingers move on their own, not hearing what she was playing, not caring. she played, and played, stretching the song out, weaving her own notes into it, taking out parts, until she had a piece of music completely different from what she had started playing. She continued to play, pouring her soul into the music. She stopped it, on a high note, and just sat for a while, the ghosts of what she'd been playing still lingering in the air.  
>"That was beautiful Mirren," said a voice behind her. She knew who it was even before she turned to look. She took a breath, and turned, to see her husband, standing behind her. She stood.<br>"Go away Rumpelstiltskin," she said before she could think about what she was doing.  
>For a second he looked like he didn't understand. Then he looked angry, but his expression quickly changed to confusion, and then hurt, and stayed there.<br>"Mirren, what-"  
>"Go Rumpelstiltskin. Don't make me force you."<br>"Why are you doing this Mirren?" he asked her, eyes wide pools full of confusion and hurt. Instead of avoiding them, she looked him right in his eyes.  
>"Leave Nimin. Don't ever come back here. I never want to see you again."<br>He took a step back, looking shattered. "Mirren, I need to stay. Our child-"  
>"Will be better off without you, Imp." She spat the word out as venemously as Nana would have. The expression of pain on his face was almost unbearable for her. She wished she could take the words back, run to him and hold him. But she didn't. She glared at him, looking as angry and hateful as the rest of the world was toward him.<br>He shook his head. "I can't leave Mirren. You don't understand. I-"  
>"I understand perfectly," she cut him off again. "Leave Nimin. Go away. I command you as your Keeper. Never come back here."<br>He stood there dumbly for a minute, then shook his head. "No Mirren." She glared at him, and he doubled over in pain from refusing to do as she commanded him, but didn't move a step away.  
>"Go now Nimin."<br>He fell to the floor, screaming, clutching his head with both hands.  
>"Nimin, leave." He screamed more loudly, writhing on the floor in pain.<br>Her mask of cold hatred broke, and just for a minute, how she was feeling showed in her face. He couldn't see her, but if anyone looked they would have seen more pain than was believable. She felt like she was being torn up inside. She quickly pulled herself back into her shell, her face a cold mask once more.  
>"Go Nimin," she said, her voice breaking slightly.<br>He stopped writhing, and curled up into a ball, screaming, tears streaming down his face. Mirren didn't think she could do this. She was a minute away from stopping this, from running over to him telling him she didn't mean any of it, that it was all a lie. But he stopped screaming, he was still, for a long minute. He rose, looking at her like he wanted to say something. But he just turned, and walked out the door. She turned as the door closed, running through the passage to her tower, flying up the stairs, sobbing. She threw the door open, ran to the window, and watched him walk out he gates. She watched him go, tears flowing freely down her face. He broke into a run, heading twowards the woods. She made a simple decision then.  
>"Go free Nimin. I give you back your Name," she said, whispering it into the wind. She watched, as he disappeared into the trees out of her sight. She turned falling onto her bed, sobbing uncontrollably.<p>

Rumpelstiltskin ran. He ran and ran, like he could outrun his past, and his present. Like he could leave all the pain behind him. Like he could leave Mirren's cruel words behind. He ran until he collapsed, legs burning, lungs aching, pain in his side. He fell, and curled up into a ball, crying like a small child. He hadn't gone back for the child. That was an excuse to stay. He loved Mirren. He didn't know how, but suddenly, she was the only thing in the world that mattered. And then she'd made him leave. Ordered him to leave her. To never come back. He lay there for what seemed like an eternity, and eventually, his sobs quieted, and he was still. He fell asleep, and when he woke up, he came to a decision: He would take Ella Scinder's child. He would raise it as his own. And he would have something that would love him. Something that wouldn't order him away. That wouldn't judge him. And he would be happy. He got up shakily, and walked in the direction of Ella Scinder's new kingdom. He would attend her wedding ball. He would give her his price.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Mirren got an unexpected call from one of her neighboring kingdoms. It was from Thomas Doraten, telling her to start the journey as soon as possible. This was, apparently, of the utmost importance. Normally, had she gotten such a call, she would have been on her way within the hour. But it took her two days now to prepare, and a week to make the journey. She arrived, and was taken in through a passageway, which lead into a private room. The guard begged her forgiveness for the delsy of his master, who was attending to his wife, who was also with child. Mirren, of course, gave it willingly. She didn't have to wait very long, five minutes or so, before Thomas entered the room, looking quite agitated. He bowed. "Lady Rapunzel," he adressed her as one Royal to another.  
>She dipped her head in resonse. "Lord Doraten. You summoned me on urgent business. I would very much like to get it out of the way so I may return to my own kingdom."<br>He nodded, sitting down in the chair across from hers.  
>"My wife is with child, as I am sure you know by now," he said. Mirren nodded, and he continued. "And you will remember that she told me and the rest of the world that she was sent to the ball she met me at by her fairy godmother." Mirren nodded again. "Well, a few nights ago, I came back from a hunting party to find my wife in our rooms packing. Apparently, she made a deal to be at that ball, and the price she agreed to pay was our first born child."<br>Mirren was confused. "How do you think I can help with this problem Lord Doraten?" she asked, very directly.  
>Thomas looked her right in the eyes. "Because she made the deal with Rumpelstiltskin."<br>Mirren froze. She'd tried her hardest not to think about him for the past few weeks, and had succeeded, but when he said his name, a lot of unpleasant feelings came rushing back into her mind. She shoved them away. They were useless, counterproductive. They meant nothing.  
>"And why would you think that I could help you and your wife lord Doraten?" she asked.<br>"Because you're his Keeper. Everyone knows this. Couldn't you make him stop this?" he asked.  
>Mirren shook her head. "I'm sorry, lord Doraten. But I can't help you. I gave up his name, for my own reasons. I'm afraid there is nothing I can do to make him stop this." Thomas hung his head, looking disappointed. "Ahh, well then, I am terribly sorry to have wasted your time Lady Rapunzel."<br>Mirren bowed her head. "No Lord Doraten, I am sorry." she got up to leave, turning back to Thomas at the last minute as a thought struck her. "Actually, there is something I may be able to do," she said.  
>Thomas lifted his head. "What my lady?" he asked.<br>"If we could find him, I could speak with him. I would probably be able to persaude him ot stop this," she said.  
>Thomas shook his head. "The imp has disappeared my lady. No one has seen or heard from him since our wedding ball," he replied, looking let down. Mirren's shoulders sagged. "I truly am sorry Lord Doraten," she said, before turning to leave.<p>

Rumpelstiltskin had thought he had been wanted before. Now, he had had more close calls than ever. The reward for his capture was staggering. Everyone was looking for him. He stuck to the woods now, staying in the trees, not daring to set foot on the ground, for the hunting parties passing below. Not hunting for deer. Hunting him. He was in the same oak he had been in when his wife called him the second time, playing with his ring, wondering if he could turn silver into gold, when he got an unexpected visit from none other than his mother.  
>He became aware of her presence only when she spoke. "What are you doing Rumpelstiltskin?" she asked him.<br>He started a bit. He hadn't expected to see her. Imps raised their children, taught them what they needed to know, and then let them go off on their own. They very rarely ever had any contact with them again.  
>"Kial," he said, using his childhood name for her. "Why are you here?" he asked her.<br>She cocked her head to the side. "You didn't answer my question," she told him, green eyes glittering. He realized that they were the same color as Mirren's. "I could be doing any number of things. At the moment, I am sitting in a tree, speaking to a true Imp," he said, dodging her question.  
>She placed her hand under his jaw, tilting his head back. "Why are you trying to steal a Royal child?" she asked him. "Even we Imps have never tried to do anyhting like this."<br>He jerked his face out of her hands. "Mirren sent me away," he said, giving up his games.  
>Kialenekver sat back against the tree trunk, pursing her lips thoughtfully. "And you love her," she said, guessing what he was feeling as accurately as only a mother could.<br>He nodded, figuring it was pointless to try to play word games with her. She was the one who taught him the word games in the first place, after all.  
>"She told me I could never come back. She used my Name," he said softly.<br>"That still doesn't explain this. Why do you want the Doraten child?" she asked.  
>He looked at his feet, stretched out on the branch in front of him. "I want to raise it. I want it to love me. A child's love for it's parent," he said.<br>Kialenekver didn't speak for a minute. "I'm not going to tell you you shouldn't do this Rumpelstiltskin. But my advice is to leave this be. Tell the Doratens you changed your mind. You wife will change her mind. She'll call you back."  
>He looked at her, meeting her eyes. "And you can garantee this? You're sure this will happen? Because I'm not. I can't see what will happen. I can't see anything that Mirren may do."<br>"You choose for yourself Rumpelstiltskin. Think of your own child, and your wife when you make your decision," she said. She disappeared, leaving him to his own thoughts.

Mirren went into labor on the 9th of August. Her child was born after 12 hours of labor, a healthy baby girl. She named her after her grandmother, Amelia. She was happier than she'd been in a while, her child suckling at her breast. Her thoughts wandered to Rumpelstiltskin. And she wished he was there. She wished more than anything in the world that he could have seen his child, such a beautiful little thing. She cried sofly, taking care not to wake her child. Her Amelia.

The bird searched for Rumpelstiltskin for weeks before it found him, sleepinging a tree. It landed next to him, and chirped loudly for a while. It wasn't the only thing chirping though, and it didn't wake Rumpelstiltskin. It got impatient. It's mistress had stressed that time was of the essence. It hopped onto his shoulder, pecking at his ear. Not hard enough to really hurt, just hard enough to wake him.  
>"Yarhg," he said, rubbing his eyes. The bird chirped at him, and he looked at it. They stared each other in the eyes, and the bird sent his message, before flying away. Imps were trouble, and it didn't want to be so close to one so imfamous.<p>

Rumpelstiltskin considered the message he'd gotten. So they would try to outwit him. He could play this. He could only see so far ahead, and there were gaping holes were Mirren was involved, but he knew he could use this new development to his advantage. He got out of his tree, and started walking. If he was going to make it on time, he would have to hurry. He traveled for a week, stealing various items of food along the way. He reached his destination, the gardens outside of Doraten's castle. Normally, he would have never come this close to such a place, but a plan was beginning to form in the recesses of his mind. He saw Ella Scinder(Ella Doraten, he corrected himself), standing in a gazebo ahead. He finished off the last of the whiskey he'd stolen, steeling his neves for this. "Well well, you're starting to show," he said, making his presence known to Ella. She turned. "A little bird told me you wanted to speak."  
>"Yes," she said, walking closer. "I'd like to alter the bargain," she said.<br>"That's not what I do," he replied.  
>"You'll want to. I'm having twins," she told him.<br>She was lying, he knew she was. But he would play this. "Is that so?" he asked rhetorically. He walked over. "Let's have a look," he said, placing his hands on either side of her stomach. Only one child. He was expecting that. He looked up at her. "And you would, give up both?" he asked.  
>She nodded, and he straightened. "Why is that I wonder?" he said aloud.<br>She looked down. "My husband, he's... He's having a hard time. Our kingdom is poor, we're losing money, our crops are dying. We can't support ourselves or our people."  
>She was good. Almost convincing. She would have fooled anyone but him.<br>"And you would trade your other child for... comfort?" he asked, though he already knew what she would ask of him.  
>"I can always have more children," she replied. "But I can't make crops grow where the soil is dead." She pulled out a contract. "In exchange for our other child, you will see to it that our land is once again fertile," she said. "I think it's more than fair."<br>"Yes," he replied immediately. "Yes, yes. It is. If what you're saying is true," he said, bending down to examine the contract. They'd done a good job on it. "It is," she replied. "And all you have to do is sign on the dotted line," she said, producing a red quill. One that stunk of magic.  
>He took the quill from her. "What a lovely quill," he said. "Where ever did you get it?"<br>She was beginning to look a bit nevous. "It's from my castle," she replied.  
>He stepped closer to her. "You know the only way to stop me, is through magic," he said.<br>Yes, she was definitely nervous. "I'm not trying to stop you," she said.  
>"Of course you're not," he said. "Because as we all know, all magic, comes at a price. And if you were to use it to say, imprison me, then your debt to me would only grow," he said, tickling her chin with the tip of the quill. "And we wouldn't want that, now would we?"<br>She jerked her head away from the quill. "Just sign the contract please," she said.  
>"Are you sure you're happy with this new arrangement?" he asked her. He was beginning to have doubts about his plan.<br>She held up the contract, a determined look on her face. He giggled nervously. But this would work. He knew it would. He took the contract from her. "And so it shall be," he said, as he signed the contract. He felt a horible tingling, and heat. White hot, searing heat. He couldn't move. "Thomas," he heard Ella cry.  
>"No one breaks deals with me dearie," he told her, low enough that only she could hear him. "No one. No matter where you are, no matter what land you find yourself in, I assure you, I will have your baby."<br>She looked him sqaure in the eye. "No you won't, Imp."  
>He closed his eyes, already satisfied that his plan was going to work. It would take a long time, and would be slow moving, but it would work.<p>

When Mirren heard news of his capture, the first thing she did was pack up and leave. She left Amelia in Nana's capable hands, and left for Harbilt's kingdom. It took her two weeks to make the journey, and when she got there, she found that Rumpelstiltskin was no longer there. He had been sent to her eastern neighbor, Grinthal. It took her another week to get there. When she arrived, she found that she was not allowed to see him. This was unacceptable. She went down int o the mines, alone. There were two dwarven guards outside the door.  
>"Let me in," she demanded.<br>They looked at one another apprehensively. The taller dwarf addressed her. "We are under orders to let no one in," he said. She fixed him with the glare that she usually held in reserve for her husband. Rumpelstiltskin laughed at it, but the dwarf wilted, seeming to shrink under her intense scrutiny. She bent down so she was at eye level with him. "Now you listen to me, dwarf. I will see him. One of two things will happen. You will let me in, and I will leave when I am ready to leave. Or, I shall turn you into a mouse, and conjure up a cat to entertain you, while I visit with him. You choose."  
>Mirren had not said one untrue thing, and the dwarf knew it. He stepped aside quickly, unbarring the door to let her in. She stepped into a hallway. At the end of the hallway, was a chamber, cut off from the hall by thick bars. In the chamber, in the corner, fingers moving rapidly, doing something that Mirren couldn't see, was Rumpelstiltskin.<br>She moved closer, and he heard her footsteps, freezing at the sound. He turned, slowly, to look at her. "Mirren," he said. He hadn't been expecting to see her.  
>She smiled at him. "Hello Rumpel." She looked around casually, her eyes missing nothing. She turned back to him, and the smile was gone, replaced with something he couldn't read. "What have you gotten yourself into now?" she asked softly, moving up to the bars.<p>

He chuckled. "I suppose you could call it a pickle," he said.

She motioned for him to come to her. "Come here Rumpel," she said. He hesitated, before complying, walking right up to the bars, as close to her as he could get. "Why did you come Mirren?" he asked.  
>She took a step forward, close enough for him to touch if he reached between the bars. She shook her head. "I don't know," she said.<br>"That doesn't seem like you," he replied.  
>She nodded. "I suppose it doesn't."<br>"Why did you come?" he asked more softly this time.  
>She stepped forward again, pushing herself up against the bars, as close to him as she could get. She kissed him, lightly before pulling away, looking into his eyes to gauge his reaction. He had expected one of several things to happen. He had not expected that, and he was frozen for a minute, before he leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers. She placed her hands on either side of his face, letting him push his tongue into her mouth, exploring, as she moved one of her hands to the back of his head, pulling him closer. His hands reached through the bars, holding her as close to him as the bars separating them would allow. They stayed that way, his lips moving on hers for a fraction of a second, or an eternity. They neither knew, nor cared. When they stopped, they stood there, holding each other, her face on his shoulder. neither spoke for a minute, but Mirren was the one to break the silence.<br>"How are we going to fix this mess, Rumpel?" she asked him.  
>"I don't know love," he said. "We need time to think about it."<br>She nodded. "I'll talk with Grinthal. See if I can get him to release you."

The door opened, adn the dwarf peeked in. Mirren didn't know what he had expected to see, but apparently, it wasn't this.

He cleared his throat. "Errm, m'lady, your time is up," he said, looking at his feet. Mirren looked up at Rumpelstiltskin, brushing her lips gently against his before turning to leave. H elet her go without comment, watching as the door closed behind her.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Now, before I continue with this story, mind one thing: Mirren did NOT curse Grinthal. That has yet to happen. She did speak with him. He did not release Rumpelstiltskin. But she did not curse him. She wouldn't risk war with him. She went home to her daughter. 1 month later

The door to the hall opened, and Rumpelstiltskin's gaze left the patch of ceiling he'd been staring at.  
>"Finally found a patch of ceiling more intersting than the one over my bed?" Mirren asked him. She was holding a bundle, though Rumpelstiltskin couldn't identify what it was from where he was lying. He sat up, chuckling. "No your grace, of course not," he said. "What do you have there?" he asked.<br>She looked down at the bundle of cloth and smiled before looking back at him.  
>"This is your daughter," she said, walking over to the bars.<br>His back straightened, and he got up, moving more quickly then Mirren's eyes could follow. He stuck his head through the bars, looking at his child with an expression of... interest, Mirren finally decided. Interest. He looked down at Amelia, and she looked back up at him, reaching up with her little hand to grab his nose, a game which Mirren played with her frequently, tugging on it, and looking disappointed when he didn't honk. Rumpelstiltskin's reaction to this was a lot more interesting than her daughter's though. He looked alarmed at first, and then his expression melted like chocolate in a hot oven. He was absolutely taken with her.  
>"What's her name?" he asked, and Amelia giggled as his mouth moved under his nose.<br>"Amelia," Mirren told him. "After my grandmother."  
>"Amelia," he repeated, closing his eyes. He smiled, and opened his eyes, looking up at Mirren. "That's a beautiful name," he said softly. Amelia let go of his nose, and patted his cheek, looking up at her mother.<br>"She's got your eyes," he said. "Like they were before they changed." he straightened, looking a bit uncertain. "May I hold her?" he asked. Mirren nodded, passing her carefully through the bars to her husband. He held her like Mirren had, looking down at her. Amelia blinked, thinking to herself, that was sudden. She looked back through the bars, at her mother, who smiled at her. She looked back up at this new person, who she didn't know, but wasn't afraid of. Actually, she liked him better than Na Na. He crooned less.  
>Amelia grabbed his index finger, holding it, and he smiled at her.<br>"Do you know who I am?" he asked her.  
>he didn't expect an answer, and he got none.<br>"I'm your father," he said. She cocked her head to the side, like she was listening intently. In truth, she wasn't she just wanted to look at him from a different angle. And while all of this was amusing, she wanted her mother again. She let his finger go, reaching out of the blankets toward her mother. Mirren held her arms out, and Rumpelstiltskin passed the child back to her.  
>"I spoke with Grinthal," she said, sitting down.<br>"He refused to release me," Rumpelstiltskin said, also sitting.  
>Mirren nodded, and bit her lip. "I don't know what I can do Rumpel. I can't go to war with him. All the Northern kingdoms, and most of the eastern and western would join him to defeat me. I can't think of anyhting else to do." A tear slid down her face, and Amelia grabbed her nose. She honked, and the child giggled. She tried to stick her finger up her mothers nose, but for some reason, her mother never allowed this to happen. She took her hand away, putting it on her chest. Amelia exhaled, only slightly disappointed. She looked to the other man, who had been watching, holding out her hand imperiously. He stuck his head through the bars, and she pulled his nose. He looked at her mother, who honked. Amelia pulled his nose again, a bit harder, to let him know that she wanted HIM to honk. Some big people had to be told a lot of things more than once. He honked this time, and she laughed. It looked a lot funnier when he honked. An idea struck her, and she quickly stuck her index finger into his nostril. He made a strangled noise that was a lot funnier than a honk, jerking his head back quickly. She laughed, giggling hysterically, and her mother chuckled. "You have to watch for that," she said.<br>"I suppose I do," he said, an odd look on his face that only made his daughter laugh more loudly.  
>"What are we goign to do Rumpel?" Mirren asked him.<br>He was quiet for a few seconds. "I'm not sure yet," he replied softly.

After they left, and Rumpelstiltskin was sitting alone once more, he was thinking, how could he get out of this? How could he be with his wife and child? He thought for a long time, and eventually fell asleep. And dreampt.  
>He was standing next to a barn, watching a scene in front of him: Mirren, dressed in a simple dress, a peasants dress, in the middle of a tug-of-war with a goat. She was trying to pull the goat into an enclosure, and the goat was pulling away from the enclosure as hard as it could. This went on for several minutes, and he was struck by how determined she was. She was yelling at the goat. "Stupid god-damned goat, get your ass over here!" The goat did not reply, just tugged harder, and Mirren tugged back, continuing to yell at the goat, and it occured to Rumpelstiltskin that despite being covered in grime, wrestling with a stubborn goat, she looked...not happier, but less burdened than he'd ever seen her. He opened his eyes, and sat up. He thought for a few minutes, and then began to chuckle, then laugh. He walked over to the bars, and got down on his hands and knees.<br>"Deraslinericti," he said, calling the black rat that he'd fed the other day. He had, of course, brought the rat into his debt by doing so. He waited for a few minutes, before the rat came.  
>"Go to Dora Shernack," he said. "Tell her that she has a chance to change the fortune of her family. Tell her she has a chance to inherit the throne of the southern kingdom."<br>The rat skittered away, and Rumpelstiltskin stood, moving to the back of the cave. He sat, closed his eyes, muttering, his hands moving rapidly, creating a spell.

Dora Shernack was sitting in the sun, thinking about how horrible her life was, which was the perfect mindset for the success of Rumpelstiltskin's plan. The rat skittered up to her, and instead of being alarmed by it's prescence, Dora thoguht, Oh good, it shall bite me, and my misery shall be ended.  
>It did crawl up her leg, to sit in her lap, but instead of biting her, it delivered a message. She listened interestedly, and then got up and started walking, not bothering to pack food or clothes. She walked cross kingdom into Grinthal's realm.<p>

Rumpelstiltskin had finished his work, and was laying down, staring at the same patch of ceiling again, when the door opened. He sat up abruptly, knowing that this was not his wife.  
>"Your rat told me you could put me on the throne," Dora said, subtle as ever.<br>He smiled. "Why yes dearie. Of course I can," he said.  
>She walked up to the bars. "How," she asked desperately.<br>He walked just a bit closer. "It's quite simple. Just activate this spell," he said, pulling the vial out of one of his pockets. She looked at it, then at him, looking suspicious now.  
>"What is it?" she asked. "This is the spell that will put you on the throne," he said, stepping closer again, holding the spell almost within her reach. She looked at it longingly.<br>"Why that? You know you could have anything from me for it, why this?" she asked.  
>"That's my business. But this will put you on the throne, I garantee it," he said. She was still suspicious. "Why don't you activate it yoursef if you want it activated?" she asked.<br>He indicated the cell. "I can't activate the smallest spell in here. I can create them, but activating them is out of the question."  
>She looked at him. "Will you swear it will work? Will you garantee it?" she asked.<br>"I swear it will work," he said, holding the vial within her reach. It was enough for her. She snatched the spell out of his hand, clutching it to her chest. She turned and ran from the cell, not looking back.  
>He sat down where he was, staring at the wall this time. It was out of his hands now. He waited for the spell to take effect, feeling sleepy. He went to sleep, knowing that he would wake up in a better place. <p>


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

He woke up in the same prison he'd been in before he'd met Mirren. The place where they'd met. He frowned, realizing that the spell had taken him a lot farther back then he'd intended to go. The theory behind this spell was that Mirren and he were apart because she was a queen. If Mirren was no longer a queen, they could be together. I suppose you need to know the history of southern kingdom to understand what he did. The Rapunzel family had not always been the only kingdom in the south. There were two at one time. The Hernacks ruled one, and the Rapunzels the other. The Hernacks had gone to war with the Rapunzels, and lost. They were banished, and the Rapunzels ruled the only southern kingdom. So his spell altered one simple thing: the winner of that war. In this new reality he had created, the Hernacks were the victors. They ruled the southern kingdom. On the throne that Mirren Rapunzel was supposed to occupy, sat Dora Hernack.  
>He wondered how he was going to get out of this now. He looked at the wall, and found that there was no hole. An idea popped into his head, and he moved his shirt so he could see his shoulder. The brand M was there, freshly burned into his skin. So he'd just gotten here. He leaned against the wall, feeling a horrible despair. Ten years, he would have to stay here, until Mirren came, if she even did. He should have been more careful. His thoughts were cut short as a semi-sharp object poked him in the back. He pulled it out from behind him, recognizing the twisted piece of metal that he would use to create the hole that he would later escape through. He sighed, and started scraping away at the mortar.<p>

10 years later

The Red Guard hauled Mirren through the halls, kicking and screaming, though she knew it was pointless. They were going execute her tomorrow, and there was nothing, nothing that she could do to stop it. But she would damned if she didn't give her executioners hell while she still could. They threw her into the cell at the back, and she rushed to the bars, clawing at the guard's face as he locked the door, scrambling away from the crazed girl.  
>"Get back here you fucking ass!" she screamed at him. He and his fellow guards walked away, relieved that their work was done, at least for now.<br>Mirren continued to scream insults at them, and Rumpelstiltskin watched from the back of the cell for a few minutes, frozen for a two reasons: He was tremendously relieved she was here. Both that she was finally here, and that she'd come at all. Also, he had never heard(Or heard of) anyone with such a... creative way with words.  
>She stopped after a few minutes, actually panting for breath from yelling so much.<br>"That was quite impressive missy," he said, taking care not to call her Mirren. They hadn't been introduced yet, after all.  
>She spun around, surprised at the presence of another person in the cell.<br>"Who are you?" she demanded.  
>He held out his hands. "I am Nameless," he said.<br>She narrowed her eyes at him. "And why are you telling me so easily?" she asked.  
>He chuckled. "Because you seem like the kind of person who would find out soon enough anyway," he said, truthfully.<br>She still didn't relax. "How do I know you aren't lying to me?" she said.  
>"Does it matter? How could my telling you I am Nameless possibly bring me gain?" he asked.<br>She relaxed, just a bit. "I suppose it couldn't. Why are you here?" she demanded.  
>She was just as imperious as when she'd been heir to the throne. Maybe more so now, he thought. "I was framed for murder," he replied.<br>She tensed. "Murder? Who did you- Who were you accused of killing?" she asked.  
>"My mistress," he said. "She was never fond of me, and one day, she came home, commanded me to kill her and her physician, in front of friends. She was dying, an incurable disease. The last thing she did was make sure I rotted in this place," he said, indicating the cell.<br>Mirren sighed, sitting down across the room from him. "You could be lying," she said, more to herself than to him.  
>He shrugged his shoulders. "I could be," he said.<br>She started laughing loudly, almost cackling. He cocked his head to the side. "What's so funny?" he asked her.  
>She waved a hand at him. "Not funny Sir Nameless, ironic. You are accused of Murder, and you rot in a cell. I am caught stealing and am scheduled to be executed tomorrow."<br>"You are to be executed?" he asked, alarmed.  
>She nodded. "Yes I am Sir Nameless," she replied.<br>"People call me Rumpelstiltskin," he said.  
>She looked at him funnily. "Oh fuck, you're an Imp?" she said, a look of intense hatred coming into her eyes.<br>He held up his hands. "No no, I am quite human Missy. I was raised by Imps," he said quickly. She really looked like she would take great pleasure in strangling him.  
>She relaxed a bit. "Oh, well, I suppose that isn't so bad." She paused, laughing again. "You know, if I wasn't going to die, I would be asking you if you could get the Imps on my farm to leave my chickens alone."<br>"You don't have to die," he said.  
>She looked at him. "I don't?" she asked, soounding confused.<br>He shook his head, motioning for her to come closer. She did, walking right up to him. "Come down here," he said.  
>She complied, and he moved over, showing her the hole. She looked from the hole, to him, to the chains on his hands and back up to his face.<br>"You want me to get you out of here too," she said. He nodded.  
>"You're chained to the wall. I can't take you with me," she said.<br>"But you know how to pick locks?" he half asked, aware of the fact that she was different. Not raised by Royals. Peasant born.  
>She nodded. "Yes, But I have nothing to pick a lock with," she said, and he looked at her hair, noticing that it was down loose.<br>He thought for a minute, chewing his lip, and then looked back up at her. "If I let you out of here, would you promise to come back and get me out?" he said. She nodded. "Yes, I promise," she said.  
>He moved aside, and she wiggled out, leaving him alone in the dark cell.<p>

The guards didn't comment on her absence the next day. They just muttered about inaccurate ledgers, and went on about their business. He waited, his heart sinking by night. She wasn't coming. She'd lied and left him here. He supposed he should be upset about this, but he wasn't really. He just felt empty. Like there was nothing. He fell asleep.  
>He was woken a while later, by someone shaking him. He woke with a start, and saw Mirren in front of him, her face close to his. She held a finger to her lips, telling him to be quiet. She drew away, and he was frozen for a minute. She gestured impatiently, wanting to get out of there before she was caught. He held up his hands, and she went work on the chains, and they came away almost immediately. She looked at him, and he knew exactly what she was thinking: These chains are shit.<br>She picked the other chain, and then crawled out of the hole. He followed her, running to catch her as she ran through the forest surrounding the castle. She was fast, and she wasn't wearing a dress this time. He ran as fast as he could, running silently after her. She kept running, and he ran after her.  
>They ran for a while, until the forest around them thinned into woods.<br>She sat down on a log, panting. He sat down next to her. "You came back for me," he said, breathless.  
>She looked at him funnily. "Of course I did," she replied.<br>"Why?" he asked, curious.  
>"I promised, Rumpelstiltskin," she said, as if this should be obvious.<br>He just sat there for a minute with her. "You have Imp problems at your farm?" he asked her.  
>She nodded. "Yeah, they crack the eggs over the chickens heads, among other things," she said.<br>He chuckled, and she glared at him. "What?" he protested. She shook her head at him, her expression changing from anger to curiousity. "You are Nameless?" she asked.  
>He nodded. "What is your talent?" she asked him.<br>"I spin straw into gold," he replied automatically, stopping abruptly as he realized that it may have not been the best thing to tell her. It wasn't. Mirren moved more quickly than his eyes could follow, slamming into him, knocking him off of the log. They rolled, and Rumpelstiltskin was thinking just one thing: Not again.

When Mirren heard that he spun straw into gold, she knew she had to get his Name. Her farm was going to be taken by the king if she didn't pay her long overdue taxes, and she would be executed. She had three days to begin payments, and that was why she had been stealing. But now, she had a chance to pay everything back. She lunged, slamming into him, and knocking him off the log. They rolled, and he was fighting back, but half-heartedly she thought. He was trying to get her off of him, but she was stronger, not having been imprisoned for ten years. She would try to get this done with out hurting him. He was the reason she wasn't dead, after all. But she needed money, and he could give her that. They ended up him on top of her, with a hold on her right wrist, but she rocked to the left, throwing him off of her. She grabbed him, trying to get on top, but he was fighting hard, seeming to have given up trying not to hurt her. She managed to get atop of him, but he was squirming violently underneath of her, and it was all she could do to mantain this advantage. They struggled with one another for a few more minutes, niether one gaining much, though Mirren managed to stay on top. Mirren opened her mouth, about to blurt out a spell, but he expected this, and let go of her wrist to cover her mouth. She clawed at his eyes with her free hand, and he yelled, flipping violently to the side throwing her off of him. He quickly scrambled atop her, pinning her wrists above her head as she struggled violently. She opened her mouth to try to hurl out a spell, and he, being at a loss for a better solution, kissed her. She froze, in shock, and though he had meant to stop the kiss after she seemed sufficiently subdued, found himself unable to stop. She struggled more violently than before, and he twisted her hands so he could hold them both with one of his, and covered her mouth with his hand, breaking off the kiss.  
>"Stop, Mirren, I don't want to hurt you," he said.<br>She froze when he said her name.  
>"Are you going to curse me if I take my hand away?" he asked.<br>She shook her head. "Do you promise?" he asked. She nodded, and he tentatively took his hand away from her mouth.  
>"How do you know my name?" I didn't tell you," she said.<br>He froze, realizing that he didn't have a good answer for her. "I guessed," he said. It wasn't the best explantaion, but it was better than nothing. Maybe. "Why did you kiss me?" she asked.  
>"How else was I going to stop you from cursing me?" he asked.<br>"Good point," she said. "Will you let me up?" she asked.  
>He nodded, and let go of her hands, relaxing a bit. Immediately, she shoved against his chest, knocking him off of her. She moved quickly, before he rocovered, trying to get atop him again. He shoved her off of him, standing a ways away from her.<br>"I thought you said you wouldn't try that again," he said.  
>"I said I wouldn't curse you Imp," she said.<br>That hurt, her calling him Imp. He realized that right now, she hated him. She saw him as a way to get gold for her own purposes. She was a poor farmer's daughter. She didn't have the high morals that the Mirren he had known had possessed. She would have no problem ordering him to spin for her, unitl he dropped dead. He made a decision, transporting himself away, the first time he'd been able to in ten years, leaving her alone in the woods. Mirren sighed, turning to walk towards her farm. Her betrothed would be waiting for her, and she didn't want to keep him waiting.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Rumpelstlitskin watched her from the trees as she made her way back to her fiancee's mother's home, where he supposed they were living until they resolved the issues with Mirren's farm. And he was thinking one thing in particular: He could deal with Mirren for gold thread. He knew what he was offer her. He just had to decide to what he was going to ask in return.

Mirren came out of the woods, and broke into a run as she saw Darren's mother's cotttage, sitting there on a small hill.  
>"Darren!" she yelled as she approached it.<br>The door opened, and Darren poked his head out nervously. He saw Mirren, and froze with a look of astonishment on his face.  
>"Mirren? You're alive?" he said. He ran, and they collided, tumbling to the ground in a bundle of joy. Darren kissed her, and Rumpelstiltskin, watching from the trees, thought that she looked happier than he'd ever seen her before. He had to think about this a lot more carefully. He was obviously not getting Mirren at the moment. To think otherwise was madness, and he was not mad(Unless it suited him to be). This kingdom was desperate for money, as was apparent by the rising taxes. Mirren was an excellent sorceress, and he bet she could call things to her. He made up his mind. He would give Mirren gold thread, and she would be able to pay her taxes, save her farm. And he would collect favors from kings.<p>

Mirren had finished cleaning up after dinner, and was headed to bed. She and Darren were sleeping in the same room, as the cottage only had two bedrooms, as opposed to Mirren's family home. She missed it. The space, the hardwood floors on the second level, the old barn, with the door that wouldn't open, and the old chicken coop, filled with cackling, cawing, noisy hens and their chicks. She would even put up with the Imps if it meant she could keep that place.  
>She opened the door to the small room, and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight inside. Darren was sitting on the bed, looking at Rumpelstiltskin, who was leaning against a wall.<br>She looked at Darren uncertainly. "Darren, what's going on? What's he doing here?"  
>He looked very uncomfortable. "He wants to talk to you. Alone. Are you comfortable with that? Or I could stay," he said uncertainly.<br>She shook her head. "I'll talk to him alone," she said. Darren nodded, and got up to leave. He paused before walking out the door.  
>"Just yell if you need me," he said, looking her right in the eyes. She nodded, and he left, leaving her alone with Rumpelstiltskin.<br>She turned to him, crossing her arms over her chest. "What do you want?" she demanded.  
>"To help you, love, of course" he said.<br>"Help me how?" she asked.  
>"I would be willing to spin the amount in gold thread you need to settle your debts with the king. And in return, I ask only a small service of you," he said.<br>She tensed. "What do you want?" she asked.  
>"I want you to call a dragon for me," he said.<br>She just gaped at him for a minute. "And what makes you think I can?" she asked after a few minutes.  
>"Well, you're obviously a very powerful sorceress. You had enough confidence in your abilities to try to imprison me. I know you can call a dragon. And if you want to keep your farm, you'll accept this deal," he said.<br>She stood and looked at him or a few minutes, and then narrowed her eyes, walked up to him and poked him in the chest. "Fine then, I'll do it. But nothing bad had better come of this, or I will kill you Imp," she said.  
>He chuckled, hiding the fact that he was nervous that she was so close to him, when in such an apparently foul mood.<br>"I'll deliver the thread, and then you call the dragon. The thread disappears if I don't have a dragon Missy, so keep that in mind," he said. He pushed past her, and walked out the door.

He returned to the cottage the next day. He was a mess, having been up all night, spinning. He didn't look his best, and Mirren almost laughed aloud when she saw him. He looked almost worse than the previous night.  
>"Where's my thread Imp?" she asked.<br>"I left it at your farm," he said. "Where's my dragon?" he asked.  
>She looked very uncomfortable indeed. "I haven't called it yet," she said. "Well then, Mirren, call it," he said.<br>She looked like this was the last thing in the world she wanted to do, but she sat on the ground, cross-legged, and spread her arms out to the sides, and just sat, with her eyes closed. She stayed that way for about a half an hour, and then got up. She looked at him. "Well, there you have it, the dragon is on it's way."  
>He nodded, satisfied. He half-turned to leave, before stopping, and sweeping her a low bow, before running off into the woods. She watched him go, already regretting her decision to call the dragon.<p>

A year passed, and Mirren and Darren were married. Darren built a mill on their land, and worked it himself. They lived in happiness. Until, one day, Mirren got news that stopped her in her tracks. She was at the market, and she overheard some other sunday shoppers talking about it.  
>"Yes, Midas finally got Prince James to kill it," one said.<br>"At last?" asked another.  
>The first one nodded. "Yes," she said.<br>"How can you be sure it isn't just rumours?" an third asked.  
>"I can't but I would bet my farm it's dead," the first said.<br>Mirren walked up to them. "What's dead?" she asked.  
>"Oh, you haven't heard the rumours?" the first asked. Mirren shook her head.<br>"Well, there are a lot of them flying at the moment: About Midas finally ridding his kingdom of that dragon that's been plaguing it for so long," she said.  
>She kept talking, but Mirren didn't hear anything she said. The dragon she had called was dead. A dying race, and she may have sealed the fate of the entire species, so she could keep her farm. She dropped her basket, and ran all the way home. She ran past her farm, and into the woods beyond. She kept running until she came to a clearing. There was a very simple way to summon things like Rumpelstiltskin. And she would keep her promise. She would kill him.<p>

He was doing nothing in particular, sitting around, feeling good about his dealings, and life in general, when he heard a soft murmur, barely audible: Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpelstiltskin. Three times in a row. Someone wanted him. He closed his eyes, letting himself go to whoever was calling.

He appeared in the clearing just in front of her, his back to her. He opened his eyes, and turned around, seeing Mirren.  
>"Mirren," he said, caught off guard. "What-"<br>He was cut short as she punched him, snapping his head back. She wasn't trying to get his name this time. She wanted him dead. He'd tricked her into calling a dragon, those most rare and wonderful of beasts, and then had it killed for his own profit. She was more angry than she'd ever been in her whole life. She kicked him, hard, not aiming her kick, and not caring where she got him, as long as her foot connected with flesh.  
>He stumbled away from her, and she came after him, a look of intense rage on her face. "Mirren, what are you doing?" he yelled, stumbling backwards as she hit him, giving up kicking in favor of using her fists. He stumbled, trying to run backwards, and tripped. She fell on him like a crazed person, clawing, punching, kicking, jabbing him with her knees and her elbows, yelling insanity at him. He didn't catch very much, but he managed to pick up that she was very upset about the death of the dragon. She continued to batter him, screaming, and now she wasn't sure of she was doing this to avenge a dragon, or to assuage her own guilt.<br>"Mirren, stop!" he yelled, trying to get her off of him, but she continued to shower him with blows. He managed to grab her wrists, holding them still, and she bit his left wrist, drawing blood. He yelped, letting go of her hand, and she punched him in the face again. He let go of her other hand to shield his face, which had suddenly become a prime target for her. Instead of continuing to try to get at his face, she took the opening, pelting his ribs with blows, and he yelped, hands moving from his face to try to hold her still again, with only limited success. He realized that she wanted to kill him, and tried to transport himself away, only to realize that, rather than just bringing him here to try and pummel him to death before he could escape, she had enchanted a large area of the woods around them so nothing inside a certain radius could use magic. She couldn't use magic to kill him, but she was going to kill him with her bare hands the way she was going.  
>She continued the assualt, seeming to get angrier by the minute, rather than cooling off at all. He grabbed her wrists again, and she tried to bite him again, but he pitched to the left, flipping her off of him. She got up immediately, now looking less angry, and more distraught, tears streaming down her face. She ran towards him, and he dodged quickly to the side, and she barreled past, falling to the ground with a frustrated shriek. He quickly jumped on her, holding her down so she could fight him less effectively. She was still fighting though, thrashing under him, trying to get him off of her, screaming bloody murder at him at the top of her lungs. This went on for several minutes, and he held on grimly, muscles screaming from the beating she had given him to remind him of what would happen if she got up.<br>She quieted eventually, and the only sound was her sobbing quietly, and him, breathing raggedly.  
>"Mirren, why are you trying to kill me?" he asked.<br>She blew out a puff of air angrily. "You tricked me Imp," she spat the word Imp out like she could kill him with it.  
>He shook his head in disbelief. "No, I did not. I gave you your gold, and you called a dragon for me. How did I trickyou?" he asked.<br>When he mentioned her part in it, Mirren became a whole lot angrier, because he didn't even understand what he'd done. And he acted like her part in it was nothing. She starting thrashing again, more furiously than before, if that was even possible. He lost his grip on her left wrist, and she waved her arm wildly, trying to hit him somewhere, anywhere that would hurt. He ducked his head to avoid being smashed in the face, and grabbed her wrist, pinning it down again, only to be thumped hard in the back as she twisted her legs into a very uncomfortable( On her part) position to try to kick him, shrieking again.  
>"Mirren, stop," he snapped at her, becoming a bit impatient with her.<br>That only served to make her angrier, and he was starting to become irritated with her. He gathered both of her hands in one of his, and poked her in the ribs with the other. She thrashed more, and he poked her again. This served only to further antagonize her, and she got one of her hands free, hitting him in the face with the back of her hand. He grabbed her hand angrily, twisting it backwards, and she yelled, in pain this time. He twisted it further, feeling a cruel pleasure at her pain, despite himself. She stopped trying to hit him, now trying only to get away.  
>He stopped twisting, and let go of her hand altogether, getting up off of her. She scrambled away from him, to crouch in the shade of a tree, cradling her hand to her chest. He felt a bit of guilt over hurting her, and he knew that it wouldn't work to his advantage when he needed her favor, but she had been trying to kill him, after all.<br>Niether spoke for a few minutes, each trying to catch their breath.  
>"Mirren, how do you think you were tricked?" he asked her.<br>She spat in his direction, and he sighed, giving up. He walked over to her, and hauled her to her feet, a dangerous move on his part. He kept a tight grip on her forearms, looking right in her eyes.  
>"How did I trick you Mirren?" he repeated.<br>She glared murder at him. "You had that dragon killed. You made me call it, and then you had it killed. I am directly responsible for it's death. And it's you're fault that I am," she said.  
>He shook his head, letting her go. "I'm leaving now Mirren. If you need my help, call me." he turned, walking out of the patch of woods she had enchanted, muscles screaming in protest at every step he took. He walke dto the edge of the enchantments, before magically transporting himself to his cottage. <p>


	12. Chapter 12

The king's plan to bring in money for the kingdom had failed. His adopted son's brother had run off wiht Snow White, and Midas' dauhgter had gone home. He would get no gold from the neighboring kingdom. He would be lucky if he didn't get war. So when the tax collector told him of the girl who paid her taxes in golden thread, and her rumuored ability to spin straw inot gold, he did not behead the man. He sent an armed escort to bring her to him.  
>Mirren stood before him, head bowed respectfully. "You mean to tell me that the man was spreading lies in my court?" the king asked her incredulously.<br>Mirren nodded. "Yes your highness," she replied.  
>He shook his head. "I need money for my kingdom Mrs. Durbenshire. Come with me," he said, leading her through the halls of his castle. They went down, and he opened a large wooden door, leading her into a room with a spinning wheel in the center, and the rest absolutely stuffed with straw.<br>"You will spin all of this straw into gold by morning, or I will behead you, your husband, adn the tax collector," he said, walking out, and closing the door behind him. Mirren heard the sound of a key turning in the lock, and she sat down heavily, thinking carefully about her next move.

Rumpwlstiltskin heard his name being called: Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpelstiltskin. Three times. He knew it was Mirren, so it was with great caution that he lat himself go to her.

He appeared across the room from her, and looked around in astonishment at all the straw. He looked from the spinning wheel, to Mirren, to the straw, and back, chuckling.  
>"Oh dear, let me guess: the king realized you have been paying your taxes in gold thread," he said.<br>"Will you spin this into gold for me?" she asked.  
>"Why of course," he said. "For a price."<br>She deflated. "What do you want?" she asked.  
>"Oh, how about that necklace?" he asked.<br>She stared at him incredulously. Then she handed it over. "Deal. Start spinning," she said.  
>He chuckled. He'd let her off very easily. He was soft with her. He still loved her, despite the beating he'd gotten the last time they'd seen each other. He started spinning.<p>

The king was astonished. He looked at the gold, and then looked at Mirren, adn saw a way to save his kingdom from bankruptcy. He took her to another room, bigger than the last.  
>"Spin all of this into gold by the morning, or you will die," he told her, leaving her alone once more.<br>She was about to call him, but he stepped out from behind a hay bale, having predicted the kings reaction.  
>"Do you want me to help you again?" he asked.<br>She nodded. "What do you want?" she asked. He grinned. She was catching onto his games.  
>"That ring'll do nicely," he said.<br>She looked down at it. "This is my wedding ring," she said.  
>"Oh, well, in that case, I'll just be going," he said.<br>"No, no," she said. "Take the ring." Darren would forgive her for the loss of her wedding ring. He would never forgive her for signing her own death warrant.  
>He smiled, took the ring, and started spinning.<p>

The king was speechless at the sight of the gold that awaited him this morning. He wanted more. He took her to yet another room, telling her again that she would die if she didn't spin the straw as she had done in the last two rooms. This time, when Rumpelstiltskin stepped out, she just looked at him sadly.  
>"What will you give me this time Mirren?" he asked her.<br>She looked at him, and he couldn't figure out what her expression was. Fear, he decided finally. Maybe regret.  
>"I have nothing more to give you Rumpelstiltskin," she said.<br>"Not now, but perhaps..." he trailed off.  
>"What?" she asked eagerly.<br>"I want your firstborn child," he said.  
>She looked at him in alarm. "What? Why?" she asked.<br>"Why isn't important dearie," he said. "But if you don't accept this deal, you will die, and you'll never have a chance to have a first child, or a second."  
>She chewed her lip, and looked at him. "Deal," she said. He smiled, and went to the spinning wheel. She was a sorceress, so he didn't need a contract. Her word was far more binding than any enchanted sginature.<p>

The king made a simple decision when he saw the third room: he needed more of this gold. Not at the moment, but later on he would. He had to make sure she didn't ruin off to lord knows where. Though he was perhaps thirty years older than her, he anulled her marriage to Darren, and set a date for his wedding to her. It was scheduled to be in three months time, in the middle of June. Mirren was not going to let that happen though. The king had a series of unfortunate accidents, but he would not be stopped. He married her, made her a queen, But the night of their wedding, he had a terrible accident, a fall down the stairs. He broke his neck. Mirren was a sorceress queen alone once again. She went back home to her Darren, to remarry him, make him a king.  
>"Darren!" she yelled, running to him.<br>He looked up from his work, looking surprised, but not happy in the least. Mirren," he said. "What are you doing here?" he asked.  
>"The king is dead Darren. You can come back, we can be married, and we can rule together," she said.<br>At that, his face lit up. "Mirren, that's wonderful. Let's go now," he said.  
>She smiled at that. "Just grab your clothes from the house, and we'll be on our way," she said.<br>He looked a bit uncomfortable. "Actually, we should just go," he said.  
>She cocked her head to the side curiously. She would have asked him why, but she figured that he wanted to replace all his clothes and things with new ones. It was the normal reaction of the commoner who found themselves suddenly thrust into the life of a Royal. They left, and were remarried in a modest chapel the next day.<p>

Mirren was pregnant. And she had forgotten about her deal woht Rumpelstiltskin. She was neither stupid nor forgetful, but rather preoccupied. In addition to running a kingdom, she had discovered a betrayal that shook her to the core.  
>As queen, she heard everything, and eventually, it reached her ears that Darren had not waited for her. And what she heard amde her glad she had given away her wedding ring. Sometime during the three month period in which he and Mirren had been divorced, He had remarried, a girl named Dianne.<br>As soon as Mirren found out, she put everything else on hoild, and stormed up to him in the gardens.  
>"Mirren,", he said, looking surprised. "What's wrong?" he asked.<br>She slapped him hard across his face. She was watching carefully, and she saw a moment of rage, before he arranged his feartures into a mask of hurt. She was such a fool.  
>"You. You didn't wait for me," she said.<br>He looked confused. "What are you talking about Mirren?" he asked.  
>"You know very well what I'm talking about Darren," she screamed at him. "I would have waited for you forever, and you went off and married some other girl. Was she in love with you too? Did you trick her like you tricked me?" she demanded.<br>His face hardened. "Mirren, you need to understand. You were gone. I was never going to see you again. The farm would have ben taken by debt collectors, I had no way to pay them. She had a very nice dowry-"  
>"Oh, she had a nice dowry," she half-laughed. "And is that why you married me? You wanted my farm?"<br>He looked at her oddly. "Don't you know that that's all love is Mirren? A silly woman who has something an ambitous man wants? You are all useless except as a quick way to get rich."  
>She stared at him speechlessly. Then she screamed at him. She called him as dirty names as she could think up. She named him whore, and cheat, and liar and thief. She hit him, and she clawed at his eyes. She was so angry at him. More angry even that she'd been at Rumpelstiltskin when he'd tricked her into calling that dragon. This went so much deeper than that. This affair shook her to her very bones, this affair of the heart. He ran, like the scoundrel she know knew him to be, ran out hte gates, and she chased him, yelling after him.<br>"RUN AWAY DARREN! FLY AWAY! IF YOU EVER COME BACK HERE, SO HELP ME I'LL HAVE YOU bOILED TO DEATH!" She broke down against the hard, cold stone of the wall, sobbing.

Runpelstiltskin watched, from in the crowd. And he felt sorry for her. He loved her, how could he not? But there was nothing he could do for her. She hated him less than Darren now, but there was nothing short of a miracle that would make her love him again. He turned and walked away.

Dianne knelt before her, trembling in fear, her reasons for marrying Darren gushing out in an uncontrolled tide. Mirren stopped her with a raised hand, and the girl stared at the floor miserably, thinking she was about to be sentenced to death.  
>Mirren stepped down to stand next to her. She put her hand on Dianne's shoulder, causing the girl to jump.<br>"You need not explain Dianne. I understand. You were in love, and you were blind. I made the same mistake. We were both played upon by the same man. You will not be executed. I have just one thing to ask of you," she said.  
>Dianne looked up, barely believing her ears. "What is that your Grace?" she asked.<br>"Go back to my family's farm. I plan to return to it one day. Look after it for me. Keep the money you make off running it as salary. You may hire as many helpers as you need. Take the money out of the Royal Treasury."  
>Dianne looked at her incredulously, and fell to her knees, sobbing.<br>"Thank you, your majesty," she said, at a loss for what else to say. Mirren pulled her gently to her feet, wiping the tears from her face. "My name is Mirren, Dianne," she said, smiling.  
>Dianne smiled back through her tears. "Thank you Mirren," she wispered.<p>

Mirren's child came early. It was a hard labor, and Mirren didn't know if she could make it through it. She survived, but the child did not. She, in a numb haze of pain, both physical and emotional pain, thought to herself, how is that for eight months wasted, carrying it inside of you, going through the pain of labor and delivery, only to come out of it empty-handed? Childless? She lay in her bed and wept.

When Rumpelstiltskin realized he would not be getting his child, he kicked the wall of his cottage, screaming in frustration. He made a simple decision then. He would get Mirren to love him again. No matter what. He would.

Mirren woke, realizing there was someone in the bed with her. She wasn't startled. She thought maybe she was dead, and in heaven. She imagined she was lying next to her true love. Someone who would never break her heart. She snuggled closer and closed her eyes, drifting back into sleep.

She woke the second time, and whoever it was was still there. She was in a great deal of pain, so she decided she was not dead, and she was not dreaming. She raised her head a bit to see who it was, but stopped, a wave of dizziness washing over her. Someone pushed her head down gently crooning to her. "Go back to sleep Mirren, it's not yet time for you to wake up," they said. She recognised the voice immediately. It was Rumpelstiltskin. What did he want now?  
>"Why are you here?" she asked.<br>He stroked the top of her head. "To help you love."  
>She wanted to be angry, but she couldn't find it in her. She felt safe, and something else, something she couldn't identify. She'd never felt it before. Happiness? No, close, but it wasn't happiness. Almost sadness, but not quite. She was angry, but she wasn't at the same time. It was too confusing for her, so she did the simplest thing she could. She closed her eyes and went to sleep. <p>


	13. Chapter 13

He took care of her. He had help from a hundred Royal aids, but he was the one who lifted her spirit, simply by being there, talking, telling her outlandish tales of giants, and ogres, handsome princes who fell for the poorest peasant girls, and lived happily ever after with them. And for a while, they were perfectly happy the way they were. But nothing lasts forever. Two months after Mirren completely recovered, trouble came, literally knocking on her gates. Norbert Haglith had heard of a queen, alone on her throne, unmarried and vulnerable. Her guard held the castle as best they could, but there was no hope of holding out against Norbert's army. They surrendered, and Norbert set a date for his wedding to Mirren. Mirren was repulsed by this idea, and she'd had no luck with marriages before. She came up with a foolproof plan to avoid this marriage.

Rumpelstiltskin was also plotting. He swore to himself he would get Mirren out of there, dead or alive. Prefferably alive. And if he rescued her and she still did not love him... He would decide what to do in that scenario if it played out.

He snuck into the castle at midnight, the night before the wedding. Norbert's dungeons were enchanted, he knew that all to well. He jumped as close to them as he could, and from there it was very simple. He was an Imp, and all he had to do was think to himself: 'This is the most daring trick any Imp has ever played on a Royal, stealing their bride right out from under their noses'. As we all know, when an Imp goes looking to cause trouble, they will find very little standing in their way. No patrols stumbled across him.

In her dungeon, Mirren was doing the only thing she could think of to end this. She reached into a hidden pocket in her dress, pulling out a small razor. They had searched her thouroughly, but they hadn't bothered to search her magically. She knew there was no chance of escape. She would be captured, and brought back. So, she was doing something very simple. She raised the razor to her throat, and drew it across, feeling the pain hit a second after she made the cut. She leaned against the wall, waiting to bleed to death. She didn't want to suffocate, that would be horrible. She had chosen to cut an arterie, and she felt blood flowing down her chest.

He made it to the door, and saw only one guard posted there. He was sleeping. Rumpelstiltskin walked up to him and touched his forehead, using Mirren's sleep spell. He would sleep for a good long while. He grinned impishly as he fished the keys out, and opened the door.

Mirren heard the door opening, but the sound was faint, like it was coming from miles away. She thought to herself, good, I have won. Rumpelstiltskin saw her laying there, and he saw the blood, flowing freely down her front, and the small, deadly blade in her hand. He froze, panicking. He dropped next to her, covering the wound on her throat, trying to stem the flow of blood. He knew she was terrified of suffocating. She would rather burn to death than suffocate. She had chosen to bleed to death rather than marry Norbert. He tore a peice of her blood soaked dress off, holding it to her neck. He patted her cheek sharply, not a slap, but almost. "Mirren, wake up. Open your eyes, please Mirren," he begged her.

Mirren saw light. Just light. Nothing else. She was warm, and happier than she'd ever been in her life. She wanted to stay here. She was perfectly happy. She couldn't remember anything about herself. She didn't remember her farm, or Norbert, or her throne, or Darren or her dead child. She neither knew nor cared how long she was there, just there, not worrying, not thinking about what she would do tomorrow, or the next day. She was happy. "Mirren!" She heard something, a faint sound. She didn't know what it was.  
>"Mirren please." There it was again. She struggled to hear it. It was important, she knew it was, but she didn't know why.<br>"Mirren please, you can't leave me." She knew what it was now. It was the voice, the one that told her stories, the one that comforted her when she was crying over her child. It was Rumpelstiltskin. As soon as she thought that, she remembered. She remembered everything. She remembered who she was, and who he was, and what they meant to one another. She remembered their child. She remembered his voice. She struggled against the light now. She could hear him calling her, begging her to come back to him. But the light wouldn't let her go. She struggled as hard as she could against it, but she was trapped.  
>"Mirren, come back you idiot. YOu're the most stupid person I've ever met in my life. You fucking dumbass," the voice said.<br>Oh, that was it. He was insulting her. She struggled harder, angry now. She would get back, and she would punch him.  
>And she heard something else, something greater than her, greater than Rumpelstiltsin, or any of the petty kings and queens of the Realms. And it laughed, a deep rumbling sound.<br>"I hear you Te. I hear your spirit. You are strong. But I am stronger. I release you. Remember all you have known." A woman's voice.  
>She felt herself go. She felt herself rush, back to her life. Back to everything that was real. Back to everything that she loved.<p>

She tensed under his hands, her hands flying up to her throat weakly as a he poured whatever healing magic he could into her. He was a horrible healer. Kial hadn't taught him that kind of magic. She choked, gasping for air as she tried to pry his hands away from her throat. She squirmed weakly, trying to get away.  
>He laughed, aloud, a discordant sound of relief. "Stop Mirren, I'm trying to help you," he said as she continued to try to pry his hands away. She heard his voice, and looked up at him.<br>"Ahcghh," she choked out. "Shh, shh, you can't talk right now. Just give me a minute, I'll fix you," he said, although he had no idea how he would do that, or get her out of the castle. He was absorbed with Mirren, and he didn't notce the light, white light, enveloping them. He fought to stay awake, noticing it too late, but he fell asleep, his last thoughts somewhere along the lines of "Oh well, I tried my best."

Mirren sat up in the bed, looking arounf her in alarm. She had no idea where she was. She was about to get up, when Rumpelstiltskin turned over next to her in his sleep.  
>She looked at him dumbly fo ra minute, and then she chuckled. Her husband was an idiot. She remembered everything, before and after the curse. She shook him gently, and he woke with start, looking around confusedly.<br>"What did you do Rumpel?" she asked.  
>"Erghh?" he asked sleepily.<br>"What kind of spell did you cast?"  
>He scratched his head. "When?" he asked.<br>She chuckled. "You're impossible," she said, kissing him. 


	14. Chapter 14

Mirren would have been content to stay there with him forever. Stay and forget that she was ever queen. Forget about Norbert. Forget everything. And for two months, she pushed thoughts of queenship to the back of her mind. But they always drifted back to the forefront. She was a first a queen, first and foremost. She had been taught since birth that her responsibilties as queen came before her own happiness. She had to go, take her kingdom back from Norbert. She would leave in the night, when he couldn't see her, couldn't make her change her mind. She knew if he caught her, he would beg her to stay, and she wouldn't be able to refuse. She snuck out of bed, changing quietly into traveling clothes, and tiptoeing out of the room to avoid waking him. She walked through the cottage she had called home for the past two months, walking out the front door, not looking back. She walked down the path, before turning off into the woods, and disappearing from view of the cottage.

Rumpelstiltskin woke, alone. He looked around, and Mirren wasn't in the room. He got up, searching the rest of the cottage, and finding nothing. He walked out, looking all around the cottage, and searching the woods around the cottage. She was nowhere to be found. He sat down, back against a tree, looking up at the tree canopy above him. She was gone, again. He sighed. He didn't know where she'd gone, but he knew why. She was a queen. She was going to take her kingdom back from Norbert. He got up, and started walking. Nowhere in particular, just letting his feet take him where they would. With Mirren gone again, he really had nothing better to do. And who knew, maybe he'd find her if he walked long and far enough.

Mirren did the most daring thing she could: she walked right into Norbert's capitol. She there were a lot of people who would far prefer her to Norbert as a leader. And she was a sorceress. She could take care of herself.

Six months later, and the war was not going in Mirren's direction. She had gotten a lot of people to basically jump ship, and form a small nation within Norbert's own borders. They were hidden in plain sight, raiding Norbert's outposts at night, using sorcery, and trickery to win a war that they had declared rightfully upon a horrible man. The attacks were small, but they did a surprising amount of damage, raiding supply trains, stealing weapons and armor. And Mirren had soldiers in the ranks of Norbert's army, causing whatever complications they could for the king. But it wasn't enough. She needed help to win this.

Rumpelstiltskin ran. He knew exactly what was happening. He'd gone through it before. Behind him, he could hear the soldiers trampling bushes, plowing after him. Norbert's soldiers. He ran as fast as he could, feeling trapped, stuck in a memory, and as hard as he tried, he couldn't change the outcome. He was outrunning them, he was sure he could get away this time. Then the breath was knocked out of him, as he ran into what felt like an invisible wall. Sorcery. He crumpled to the ground, seeing stars. He got up, struggling to catch his breath, dodging to the side as a soldier plowed past him. He ran, but they had caught up to him, and he didn't stand a chance now. A very daring soldier, wanting the glory of this catch to win him favor with his increasingly hard to please king, took a chance, throwing himself forward, catching ahold of Rumpelstiltskin's foot. He couldn't hold on, but Rumpelstiltskin was jerked off balance, and fell forward to the ground. He sat up, only to be shoved to the ground as one of the other soldiers, copying his comrade, threw himself onto the much smaller man. The rest caught up, and they grabbed him, hauling him to his feet. There were five in their patrol, and only one of him, but he remembered Norbert's dungeons, and he had no desire to go back. He fought, fought tooth and nail, doing everything he could to get away from them. He slipped from their grasp momentarily, only to be dragged to the ground as they all pounced simultaniously. Four struggled to hold him down, as the fifth stood, chanting out a spell. He shrieked in pain. He hurt everywhere. Sharp, stinging pain. A soldier brought the hilt of a dagger down on his head, and he saw no more.

Mirren knelt in front of Elisa Queridon. She knew she was taking a chance with this. Elisa was a ruthless woman. She could help Mirren, or turn her over to Norbert. "And what makes you think I'd be willing to help you at all?" Elisa asked her.  
>Mirren smiled at her. "Because you would be getting rid of Norbert. He's going to come after you eventually Queridon, you know that. And you'll be crushed. But if you act now, you can get James Harbilt to help you, and I'd bet anything that Thomas Doraten would help as well. Maybe even Grinthal. We could defeat Haglith, together," she said. Elisa looked doubtful.<br>"Or he will destroy you all one by one," she said, almost as an after-thought.  
>Queridon just sat for a few minutes, before looking up, smiling sweetly. "Very well Rapunzel. I will help you on one condition," she said.<br>"What ?" Mirren asked.  
>Elisa leaned forward. "Simple. I want whatever gold is in Haglith's vaults," she said.<br>"Deal," Mirren said immediately. Gold was nothing. When you met someone like Rumpelstiltskin, it put certain things into perspective. Elisa smiled. "Good. I'll need to send messengers to the eastern, and northern kingdoms."  
>Mirren smiled. She would have her help.<p>

They threw him in a cell, not bothering to show him to Haglith. But he knew that Haglith would find out very soon that there was a Nameless in his dungeons. And Rumpelstiltskin did not look forward to that day.  
>And, as he had predicted, Norbert Haglith ordered him moved, to a very special holding cell, reserved especially for those of his victims who were sensitive to magical energies. He felt the place long before he saw it. It was enchanted with a variety of nasty spells, strong ones. He struggled against the guards grip on him, and the one on the right hit him over the head, and his vision went dark.<p>

Things were moving slowly. Elisa was still in negotiations with Grinthal, and Mirren was restless. She missed Rumpelstiltskin. And something didn't feel right. She was nervous, on edge. She couldn't sleep, and she didn't know why. She put it down to stress, and thought nothing more of it.

When Rumpelstiltskin woke up, he was in a dark room, with hardly any light at all. He came to his senses first, feeling cold stone beneath him, hearing the dripping of water, tasting blood in his mouth, and seeing the faint outline of a door. Then he really woke up, and he tensed, feeling malicious magic all around him. It was everywhere, in the walls, the floor, in the very air of the room. He felt like it was smothering him, like he couldn't breathe. Like he was being crushed by the weight of the air. He lay there for an eternity, hardly breathing, because it hurt to breathe, not moving, paralyzed by some spell or other. Then the door opened, and he was blinded by light, coming in from outside. Norbert Haglith stepped in, and now there was light in the room, dim light.  
>"Do you know who I am wretch?" he asked.<br>Rumpelstlitskin was not going to let this man think for one minute he was afraid. He laughed, loudly, cackling hoarsely.  
>"Oh, I know who you are Haglith. You are the great conquerer, scourge of the Realms, the reason for the downfall of Rapunzel and countless others. In short, you are an idiot," he said. Haglith bristled. He was used to getting only whimpers of fear from his victims. They never spoke, except to beg him to kill them. He kicked Rumpelstiltskin in the ribs, hard, getting nothing but mocking laughter in return. He was not used to being laughed at. He kicked him harder, jabbing him in the ribs with the toe of his boot. Rumpelstlitskin still laughed at him. Norbert kicked him again, and again, hearing the satisfying crack of bone. He placed his boot on Rumpelstiltskin's neck, pressing down ever so slightly, watching in satisfaction as the Imp could no longer keep up his smile, grimacing in pain as he gasped for breath.<br>"Am I now an idiot?" he asked, not giving Rumpelstiltskin the chance to answer. He hauled him to his feet, cracking his head against the stone of the wall behind him. Rumpelstiltskin grinned at him, despite the pain, and Haglith punched him in the face, letting him crumple to the floor.

They were marching on Haglith's castle, at last. Mirren was happier than she'd been in a while. The force they had assembled, the entire armies of three different kingdoms, and Mirren's band of rebels, was enormous. Excesive even. They would ein with sheer numbers if nothing else was in their favor. Mirren felt like they were making progress at last, and they only had a three day march to Haglith's capitol. They were taking a very straight forward appraoch to this. An attack on Norbert's capitol, a clean cut. But Mirren was still anxious, and she still couldn't place why. Now she was having dreams. Disturbing dreams, of pain, and darkness, a feeling of helplessness, and terrible, oprresive despair. She again attibuted it to the excitement of marching to war, and thought of it no more.

Rumpelstiltskin couldn't even feel his back anymore. Could no longer feel the stinging bite of the whip as Norbert lashed out at him again and again. He had left off of most of the others that he tormented regularly, determined to break this annoying Imp who laughed at him, and thought him an idiot. He resisted everything, and though Norbert lashed with his whip until his arm was sore from the unusually long doses of exercise, Rumpelstiltskin still laughed at him when he finished.  
>He had had it. He wanted this Imp to scream in pain, to beg for death like all the rest. He wanted to give him a slow, painful death, but he didn't know how to go about it. He sat on the cold stone floor, and looked at the Imp, trying to figure out why he was so obsessed with breaking him. It was the eyes, he decided. They mocked him, no matter what, they always mocked him. An idea struck him, a horrible, evil idea. He smiled wickedly at the Imp, getting up and leaving.<p>

Mirren sat up in the middle of the night, a horrible feeling in her gut. Something was happneing, there was somewhere she needed to be, and it wasn't here. She got up, walking out of her tent, shivering as thunder boomed somewhere ahead. It began raining, and Mirren stood in the rain, looking towards the west, towards the capitol of Haglith's kingdom.

Norbert reentered the room, holding a vial, and Rumpelstiltskin was immediately on guard. Nothing about this was the same as before. Rather than forcing him to spin, Norbert was trying to torture him to death, and the vial he was holding emanated dark magic. He held it up mockingly. "Do you know what this is Imp?" he asked.  
>Rumpelstiltskin put on a face like he was thinking hard. "A tonic to soothe your Royal nerves?" he sang out as best as he could.<br>Haglith laughed, startling Rumpelstiltskin. "Oh no Imp. This is for you," he said. He clapped, and the guards came in.  
>"Hold that," he said, gesturing at Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpelstiltskin tensed, not liking where this was going. He struggled, and one of the guards raised his hand, about to strike him unconcious, but Haglith stopped him.<br>"No no, I want him awake," he said, grinning in anticipation.  
>They held him as still as they could, and Norbert walked up, holding his face under his chin, forcing him to look into his eyes. Rumpelstiltskin tried to close his eyes, but Norbert pried them open, holding them open with one hand as he uncorked the bottle using his teeth. He held it teasingly over his eyes, a drop of the liquid just a fraction from tipping into his right eye. Rumpelstiltskin tried to jerk his head to the side, blink, anything, but he couldn't move. Norbert grinned wolfishly, enjoying the moment before the act. He drew the bottle back, watching Rumpelstiltskin's face flash into an expression of relief for a split second, as he thoguht that Norbert was merely teasing. Then Norbert tossed the contents of the bottle into his eyes. Rumpelstiltskin howled in agony as steam rose, the acidic contents burning his eyes. Norbert motioned to the guards, and they let him drop to the ground, walking out the door, leaving Norbert alone with the Imp that he hoped was finally broken.<br>Rumpelstiltskin spasmed on the floor, shrieking in pain, trying to wipe the stuff out of his eyes, succeeding only in rubbing it in more deeply. The pain faded after a few minutes, and he lay there, curled into a ball, hands over his eyes, whimpering. Norbert grabbed him, hauling him up into a sitting position by his neck.  
>"Let's see now Imp, shall we?" he asked, forcing Rumpelstiltskin's hands away from his eyes roughly. He grinned. The liquid was not meant to harm anything but the eyes, and the eyes of this Imp, which had mocked his very existence with their way of speaking on their own, stared unseeing. He let him go, watching in satisfaction as he crumpled to the ground in a heap.<br>He walked out of the cell, whistling.

His joy was short-lived however. The next morning, his scouts reported a massive army, flying the flags of Rapunzel, Queridon, Grinthal, Doraten and Harbilt. He prepared his castle for siege, but he knew it would be pointless to fight. He took his Royal Guard and fled, leaving the rest of his army to defend his castle, hoping to buy time to escape.

They barely lifted a finger of resistance. The army sprawled out before them stretched from horizon to horizon, and it struck fear in their hearts. They opened the gates and laid down their weapons, surrendering without a fight.

Mirren went down into the dungeons. She didn't know why. Something drew her, and she had a horrible feeling of dread in her gut. She walked through the halls, bootsteps echoing on the walls. It was horendous, and any doubts Mirren may have previously harbored about overthrowing Haglith were erased by the horrors of his dungeons. She tried not to look as much as possible. She kept walking, not knowing where she was going, getting lost in the maze of twisting passages. She went down even further, shivering from the cold. She stopped in front of a door. She could feel evil, radiating from eithin the room, pure maleovlence. Horrible spells. She opened the door, stepping in warily.

Rumpelstiltskin heard the door opening, adn cringed, curling up into a tighter ball, expecting pain. Instead, he heard Mirren's voice.  
>"Hello?" she asked.<br>He raised his head. "Mirren?" he asked, his voice coming out in a scratchy whisper.  
>"Rumpel?" she asked. She looked at him. He looked horrible, his clothes in tatters, his face bruised. He was covered in blood, and his back was covered in deep cuts, whip lashes. He was thinner than she'd ever seen him, bones visible.<br>She ran to him, not having to go far in the small room. She held him, and he clung to her desperately. She held him close, feeling responsible for whatever had happened to him in the months she had been separated from him. She had left him after all, left him alone without saying goodbye. Now was one of the times when she wished she had never been queen, at any time.  
>He freed his hands, running them up her chest, her neck, to her face, feeling her features under his fingers.<br>"I can't see you Mirren," he said.  
>She almost laughed at him then. "You need to open your eyes to see me Rumpel," she said.<br>He shook his head. "No Mirren," he said.  
>She froze, and took his face in her hands, laying his head in her lap, looking at him as well as she could in the dim light. His eyes were shut, but she could see that the space around his eyes was burned.<br>"Can you open your eyes Rumpel?" she asked him softly, afraid of his answer.  
>"It hurts when I try," he replied.<br>She held his head to her chest, rocking him, fighting tears.  
>"It's going to be alright Rumpel. You're going to be fine," she said, hoping that it wasn't an empty promise.<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

Norbert Haglith died, a few days after his kingdom was taken from him. He was passing through the forest, and a band of thieves overran his small group of soldiers. He was killed by an arrow, and his body left for the crows.

Mirren's first duty, as always, was to her kingdom. The Rapunzel family had put their people first, had done so for as long as they had been on the throne, in any period. She devoted whatever time she could to Rumpelstiltskin, but for the most part, she had to attend to other matters. So, she enlisted the help of someone she'd known in another life(Or alternate timeline, I suppose). Martha Dolores Gertrude, or, as she is much better known throughout all the kingdoms, Nana.  
>When Mirren introduced the two of them, it was obvious that Nana immediately disliked him. And it was all Mirren could do not to roll laughing on the floor at the expresion on his face. But then she wished she could see his eyes, covered by a layer of bandaging, and the mirth in the situation disapppeared abruptly.<br>His eyes eventually healed, but he couldn't see. When he opened his eyes, he could percieve vague impressions of light and shadow, but he couldn't see. He kept his eyes shut most of the time. A few people had tried to call him, only to be rebutted by Mirren, who sent them away with what was quickly dubbed by Rumpelstiltskin, 'The Classic Lecture of The Unreasonably Concerned Wife'. Mirren and Rumpelstiltskin were remarried, because Mirren was getting a lot of marriage proposals, and it would ofend a lot of princes if she turned them all down, and it would eventually lead to war. Mirren got into a fight with the queen of the southern kingdom, who made a comment that the Rapunzel family seemed to want only to marry down. It got physical, and led to war between the two kingdoms. Mirren won, and banished Dora, again. She was now the ruling monarch of the most powerful kingdom in all the realms.  
>They tried to make an heir for Mirren's kingdom(Rumplestiltskin was not allowed, and had no desire to rule the kingdom alongside Mirren), tried for five years, but Mirren's previous miscarriage caused many complications, and there was no child.<br>One day, Rumpelstiltsin heard something he hadn't heard for a long time. His name, called three times. He cocked his head curiously. Not many dared call him these days, due to Mirren's increasing possesiveness. But now here was someone who was foolish, or desperate enough to call him. His curiousity, a quality cursed by Mirren time after time, won out, and he let himself go to whoever was calling him.

He couldn't see where he was, but he could feel. He knew this place. A palace of red sandstone, lying in the middle of thick woods. Shrouded in so many spells, it was almost suffocating to his heightened senses. He turned his head, opening his eyes. Even a sense of what was light, and what was shadow would be useful to him here. He turned, seeing nothing but darkness. "Rumpelstiltskin?" a voice asked from behind him. He turned, recognizing the voice.  
>"Ahh, Naomi. How nice to see you again," he said.<br>The Red queen was uncertain if he was making a grim joke about his own handicap, or the pleasure of being found in her presence once more. She had, after all, imprisoned him for ten years, and justified though her actions may have been, he was certain to have held a bit of a grudge.  
>"I need your help," she said, although it almost killed her to do so.<br>He cocked his head to the side, sightless eyes fixed on her. "And what exactly do you of all people want my help with?" he asked.  
>She sat in a chair, motioning for him to sit as well before realizing the pointlessness of the act.<br>"I don't know if you've yet heard, but I'm dying," she said. He tsked. "Oh, I don't know what the world will do without you," he said.  
>She ignored him, plowing on. "I had only one son, and he died a few years ago. He had one daughter, who I haven't had any contact with for years now. Her mother blames me for my son's death, and she refuses to allow me, or anyone I send to speak with the child. But that girl is the only heir to my throne, and if I can't talk to her, convince her to take the throne after I die, my kingdom, everything I've built, will disappear with me."<br>"And you think I can help you how?" he asked.  
>She leaned forward in her chair. "I want you to talk with her, in my place, convince her, make one of your deals, anything, just get her to take this throne," she said.<br>He was silent for a minute, eyes closed. "And what would you be willing to give me for this?" he asked her.  
>"Anything," she said.<br>"Anything at all?" he asked, stepping closer.  
>She nodded, and then spoke aloud. "Yes," she said.<br>He grinned, eyes still closed.  
>"Fine then. I'll speak to her, see what I can do. And you'll owe me... a favor," he decided.<br>She stood. "Deal," she said. He opened his eyes and grinned at her again, looking the part of the cat that had eaten the canary, and she couldn't decide if it was worse when he smiled with his eyes open or shut.  
>He held out a hand. "I can't just use magic to get out of here out of here, your majesty," he said mockingly as always. "Will you show me the way out?"<br>She took his hand, leading him down the staircase, and through the halls, to a back gate, and let him out that way. He turned back to her. "What is your grand-daughter's name?" he asked.  
>"Rebecca. Rebecca Red," she replied, a bit reluctantly. He smiled at her again, and bowed before disappearing. She closed the door, leaning against it and closing her eyes, wondering what she'd just done, and if it really was good for her, her kingdom, or her grand-daughter.<p>

He had meant to leave discreetly, without attracting Mirren's attention. It was common for him to leave for long periods of time. He didn't like being cooped up in the same place for extended periods of time, and Mirren let him go when he wanted to roam. She knew he would come back. He got up, and got dressed quickly, doing his best no to wake Mirren. He walked out of the tower, and made it to the gate, before a familiar voice stopped him.  
>"Where are you going Imp?" Nana asked. He exhaled in a puff of air. He really did hate that woman. He turned, opening his eyes, not seeing much but shadow. "I'm going for a walk Martha," he said.<br>"Outside of the castle?" she asked skeptically.  
>He stiffened. "Yes Martha, and I don't see how it's any of your business," he said. He hated her, but he respected her a lot more than some others She looked at him suspiciously, but she had no real reason to stop him, so she let him go without further protest. She shook her head. That Imp was nothing but trouble, and he was going to find trouble now, she just knew it.<p>

He walked for two days, before he reached the woods that Rebecca Red crossed frequently to visit her grandmother(Mother's mother). He sat down on a rock, and waited. He knew she would come.

Rebecca did indeed come, after a few hours, singing happily. She stopped, as she heard a rustle to the side of the trail. She froze, fearing wolves. Instead, a man stepped out, cane tapping the ground in front of him.  
>"Rebecca Red?" he asked, addressing her chin.<br>She nodded, before speaking aloud. "Yes," she said. "Who are you?" she asked.  
>He grinned with his eyes closed, and she suppressed a shiver of fear. She was still an apprentice huntress, and while she was sure she could defend herself against a blind man, she wasn't sure that that was all he was.<br>"Who I am is not important. I am here with a message from your grandmother," he said.  
>Red was confused. "I was just at my grandmother's house. Surely she would have told me if she had a message for me," she said, getting ready to run. He chuckled. "Oh no dearie, not on your mother's side. Your father's mother. The Red Queen," he said.<br>She froze. She hadn't seen THAT grandmother in years. Since she was five, acutually.  
>"What is her message?" she asked curiously.<br>"She wants you to take her throne," he said.  
>She let her breath out in a puff. The throne of the eastern kingdom. She, a queen. She would love, love so much to just say yes, tell him ot go to her grandmother, and tell her that her answer was yes. But she stopped herself. She couldn't be a queen. Her mother would never allow it. And if she was a queen, she would be expected to produce an heir. And apprentice though she may be, she had taken vows. She would be kicked out of the order if she broke those vows.<br>She shook her head at him. "I can't," she said.  
>He cocked his head to the side. "Why not?" he asked. He needed her to take that throne. He needed the favor of a dying queen. "I am an apprentice huntress. I took vows when I was inducted into the order. I can't break them, so I can't produce an heir for the kingdom," she explained.<br>"There are other ways to produce heirs," Rumpelstiltskin said.  
>She was very confused by this. "What other ways?" she asked.<br>"If I brought you a child, to raise as your own, an adoption, would you take your grandmother's throne then?" he asked.  
>"Yes," she replied immediately.<br>He smiled again. "Well then, take her offer. And I'll find you a child," he said.

He started loooking for a child. He roamed, as he had done for most of his life without Mirren. He was looking for a child, a child to give to the new Red Queen, Rebecca Red. But he was having no luck. The fact that he was an Imp was not helping at all at the moment, because there was no way he could say he was causing trouble, or making the lives of Royals harder. He didn't find a child. He didn't give up though, and one day, he felt someone calling him. It was the old queen. He went to her.

She saw him appear by her bedside.  
>"Imp," she said, her voice faint. She was about to die. "I owe you a favor. What do you want?" she asked.<br>"I want a spell out of you," he said, crouching down so his face was below hers. "The last spell you'll ever cast, magic more powerful than anything else. Your dying wish."  
>"What?" she asked.<br>"My wife, Lady Mirren Rapunzel, cannot bear children. I want you to fix that," he said.  
>She just looked at him for a few minutes. "I thought you were going to ask me to fix your eyes," she said.<br>He was quiet for a few minutes. "Pay your debt Naomi," he said.  
>She coughed, amused, and cast her last spell.<p>

He held off looking for a child for the new queen. He went home to his wife. She was in a meeting, with Royals, from one of the northern kingdoms.  
>He heard raised voices inside, and shook his head, leaving to go wait in their rooms. Nana was sitting in her rocking chair, by the fireplace. He could hear the click of the needles, and the creak of the old wood. She didn't pay him any attention, which was fine with him. He walked up the stairs, keeping close to the wall, and lay down on the bed to wait. He thought about his problems with Rebecca Red. He really didn't know how to handle this. He supposed he could make a deal for a child, but that would take and incredibly long time, long to find someone willing to give up the most precious thing they would ever possess, and long to wait for the child to be born. He would have no chance of getting any child that wasn;t new-born: the parents would be sure to have grown attached. And if he got an older child, they might remember a life before they were Royal. He couldn't have that. He needed a newborn child. He fell asleep, these thoughts swirling around his head madly.<p>

The door opened and Mirren stormed into her room. She had just gotten out of a meeting with Thomas Doraten's parents. They had, the nerve on them, asked her to marry their son. She had told them that she was already married. And they had told her, "Yes, but we have asked all the other Princesses and noblewomen of good breeding, and none will agree to a marriage. Apparently, our kingdom is too poor."  
>She had been very offended, but she, as she had been taught, did not let it show(For the most part), and had had them very gently escorted out of her palace. She plopped herself down on the bed angrily, only to be thrown to the side as her indignant husband was woken from his nap.<br>"Gyarrsh, Mirren, why did you sit on me?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbows, looking towards the door.  
>"I didn't do it on purpose," she said, and he turned his head to where her voice was coming from, the other side of the bed. She settled down, hands behind her head, staring up at the ceiling. "I really thought I had heard it all Rumpel, I really did," she said. He sat up, crossing his arms over his chest. "Oh? What did you hear that you hadn't before?" he asked.<br>She looked up at him, rolling onto her side. "I just got out of a meeting with the Doratens," she said.  
>He was now very interested in what she had to say. "What did they want?" he asked.<br>"They wanted me to marry their son, Thomas Doraten," she said.  
>"And what did you say to that?" he asked, amused.<br>She gaped at him wordlessly. "I said no, of course. Did you even need to ask?" she asked him.  
>He chuckled. "No, I suppose not."<br>"Where were you?" she asked interestedly. He'd been gone for longer than he normally was.  
>"Here and there and everywhere. Wandering," he replied. It was true, that was what he had been doing. Mostly. He was thinking now. If Thomas Doraten's parents were asking around to find him a bride, then they hadn't held that ball yet. He hadn't met Ella Scinder. Mirren kissed him then, effectively derailing his train of thought. "I missed you," she said. He kissed her back, lacing his hands into her hair as she pressed herself against him. He flipped them, so their heads were at the foot of the bed. "I missed you too," he said. <p>


	16. Chapter 16

He stayed there with her for a month. Then he left, heading for the village where he knew Ella Scinder would be watching the fireworks from the palace. He took the same spell he had before, having to sneak past Nana with it. The only magic that came to him naturally was his talent for spinning, so he would need to 'borrow' Ella's fairy godmother's wand again. Mirren had given him a crystal, which he always kept in his pocket, that allowed him to use magical means of transportation. But other than that, he couldn't use magic these days. He just couldn't stay away from Mirren long enough.

He reached the village the day before the ball. He sat down in the shadows of the alley that looked out on the castle, where he was expecting Ms. Scinder tomorrow night. And he waited.

Kialenekver watched her adopted son from the shadows as he made his deal with Ella Scinder. She doubted he knew, but none of the Imps had been effected by his spell to change time. The reason for the existence of Imps is simply to irritate, and annoy, and puzzle. They never behave quite the way one expects them too. They had all remembered. There had been great confusion among them for a few days afterwards, but then they had regained their bearings, so to speak, and continued on with their pranks and tricks. She shook her head as she watched him. He had gone so far from being an Impin creature. He'd fallen in love. She supposed it was inevitable that he would, but still, she had hoped that he might avoid it. But what was done was done, and there was no undoing it. All she could do now was hope he would find some way to be happy in the life he had chosen to lead.

Rumpelstiltskin was not a very happy person at the moment. Ella Scinder and Thomas Doraten had announced to all the land that they were to be married. And Mirren, of course, had gotten an invitation. And Rumpelstiltskin, as her husband, was expected to come along. He supposed he shouldn't be so very depressed about it, but in the first year and a half of his marriage to Mirren(Before the curse), she had lugged him along with her for more balls and parties than he had thought it possible to be held in a year and a half. And he had been permanently prejudiced against social activities of that sort forever as an unfortunate side effect.  
>So, he was taking as long as possible to get ready, hoping that maybe she would forget about him, and just go by herself. Unforunately for him, she was set on taking him along with her. He was fiddling with the shirt she'd laid out for him, when she poked her head into the room. She scowled at him, and he grinned sheepishly.<br>"That's it, I've had it," she said, stepping into the room, and slamming the door behind her.  
>"You're just going to leave without me?" he asked hopefully.<br>She didn't bother responding. She made a lot of complicated gestures with her hands, and then clapped them once over her head.  
>He didn't move for a minute, not really knowing what to expect. He flexed his fingers, and noted with relief that they were still there.<br>"There then, you're dressed, let's go," she said. He ran a hand over himself, and he was dressed. He sighed, and followed her out the door reluctantly, the only positive thought in his head being, 'oh well, at least I'll get the perfect chance to give Lady Doraten my price'.

The wedding was quite boring. He would have slept through it, but Mirren kept pinching him every time he started to nodd off, so he remained concious through the whole affair. Afterwards came the actual ball, which was a bit more interesting. He couldn't see what was going on, but he could still hear what was being said. And he heard quite a bit of interesting news. He would be sure to mention some of this to Mirren later on. He wandered throught the crowds blindly, bumping into quite a few people, and hearing the most interesting gossip from all corners of the realm. Rumors of a budding romance between Grinthal and Queridon. Talk of the beginnings of a rebellion in the northern kingdom of Jernach. And oh so many rumours of Thomas Doraten and his new wife. The usual whisperings of witchcraft and seduction that always followed when a Royal married a commoner. And then he heard something else. Snow White, and Ella Doraten.  
>"All I did was get married," Ella was saying.<br>"All you did was prove that anyone can change her life," Snow replied. He remembered this. It was exactly as it had been before.  
>"I'm proud of you," Snow said, and he pictured her dancing away, just as she had the first time. He walked up so he was directly behind Ella.<br>"I'm proud of you too," he said. He could hear her skirts rustling as she turned, startled. He reached forward, getting ahold of her hand, just luck on his apart really.  
>"You," she said, not sounding all too happy at all. "What are you doing here?" she asked, as he started a dnace with her.<br>"I just wanted to make sure you were happy with your end of the bargain," he said. "You know, true love, riches, happy endings. Did you get everything that you desired?" he asked.  
>"Yes I did, now what do you want? What's your price, jewels? The ring?" she asked.<br>"No no dear, keep your baubles," he said. What I want is something you don't yet possess. But something I know is coming," he said. She looked at him questioningly.  
>"Your first-born," he said. She pulled away from him in horror, and he walked away through the crowd.<p>

Rumpelstiltskin had gone wandering again, so Mirren was by herself when the messenger arrived from Doraten's kingdom. He gave her his message, from Lord Thomas Doraten, asking her to make all haste to his kingdom. When she heard those words, somethign felt wrong. And she remembered that she has heard those exact same words before. Only she had been pregnant then, and Rumpelstiltskin had believed that she hated him. She remembered the purpose of his calling her that time, and a cold fear lodged itself in her heart. She told herself no, it cannot possibly be that. Why would Rumpelstiltskin try to take her child this time? It cannot ne that. So she went, went without an escort, for she was convinced, and rightly so, that she could defend herself magically against any attack. She made it ot the Doraten's kingdom in a day and a half, riding hard.  
>She was taken to the same room as before, her heart pounding. She had to wait only a few minutes, before Thomas arrived.<br>"Lady Rapunzel," he said, bowing to her. "I thank you for coming on such short notice," he said.  
>SHe curtesied to him in return. "Your messenger told me it was of the utmost importance Lord Doraten," she said, heart pounding, a feel of dread creeping over her as she sat. He sat across the table from her, clasping his hands in his lap.<br>"Indeed it is Lay Rapunzel. I am afraid it concerns your husband."  
>Her stomach was in a knot know. She was afraid, more afraid than she'd been in a very long time. "How exactly my Lord?" she asked, though she was afraid she knew exactly what this was about.<br>"Well, you know that my wife told me, and the rest of the realm, that her fairy godmother sent her to the ball where she met me," he said.  
>"Mirren nodded, feeling the most peculiar of feelings. Like the stringest sense of Deja Vu one could possibly have.<br>"Well, a few nights ago, I came back from a hunting party to find my wife in our rooms packing. Apparently, she made a deal to be at that ball, and the price she agreed to pay was our first born child."  
>"And she made the deal with my husband," Mirren said numbly.<br>He looke very surprised, but nodded. "Yes Lady Rapunzel. Did he tell you?" he asked. She shook her head. "No he did not Lord Doraten. But I know what you want out of me. You want me to speak with him, see if I can get him ot call off the deal," she said.  
>He nodded. "Yes Lady Rapunzel," he said.<br>"I will do that Lord Doraten, when he comes home. I haven't seen him for two days now. But rest assured, I will speak with him when he gets back," She said. She got up, looking Lord Doraten right in the eye. "Juat let my horse loose, he'll run home by himself," she said. He looked at her in confusion for a moment, but then she clapped her hands once over her head, and disappeared with a flash of green light.

She was furious, to say the least. He could never be content with what he had. He always had to have more. When he came home, she intended to speak with him, the term 'speak' used very loosely.

Rumpelstiltskin couldn't see Mirren's future. He was still trying to figure out why that was, but he could see what Thomas Doraten would do. And he could accurately predict his wife's reaction. For his own good, he decided it would be best to stay away from her until this deal was completed. And then he might have to give her some time too cool off. He wandered about, not really doing anything in particular. He now had nine months to wander around on his own, doing absolutely nothing.

If Mirren had thought she was as angry as she could possibly get before, she supposed she was just going have to explode now. She had never been so angry at anyone else in her entire life. Not even Darren. Although she supposed that she was angry for much different reasons now. A week after she had found out about Rumpelstiltskin's deal with Lady Doraten, and she was walking out of the doctors office. She was pregnant, and her stupid husband was, once again, thae most wanted man in all the realms, and therefore, nowhere to be found. She was furious. There were simply no word to describe her anger. She stormed through the halls, and people got out of her way. The air smoldered behind her, and some of the more flammable objects in her path were left in ashes. Nana, who had been following her, cleared her throat. Mirren spun around, green sparks jumping off of her fingertips. "What Nana?" she snapped, a bit more harshly than she had meant to.  
>"I think your highness might want to take a cool bath," Nana suggested timidly. "Before your dress goes up in flames,"<br>she added, almost as an after thought. Mirren sighed, adn the sparks stopped jumping from her fingers. "Nana, that may the the most wonderful idea I have ever heard of in my life," she said. She would roast her husband alive when he came home. Until then, she was going to follow Nana's advice. 


	17. Chapter 17

Rumpelstiltskin couldn't go forever without someone catching him though. There were just too many people looking for him. And so it was that one day, a messenger came to Mirren's court, to give her the news: her husband had been captured. He was being held by Grinthal.  
>Rumpelstiltskin looked up when he heard the door slam. Mirren stormed up to the bars.<br>"How could you do this again?" she asked, hands in hips.  
>He opened his eyes and groped his way over to the bars, half expecting her to smack him.<br>"I'm sorry," he said, knowing that it wouldn't go anywhere near repairing any of the damage that had been done.  
>"We know how this is going to play out," Mirren said, only half speaking to him. "Grinthal will refuse to release you." She refocused on him. "You cannot perform another spell of the same magnitude as the last. One simply cannot create an alternate version of reality more than once in their lifetime. So I will take this into my own hands," she said.<br>"And what will you do?" he asked. He could almost feel her expression hardening.  
>"I will beg him to release you, again, and then I will risk war," she said. "You shouldn't," he said.<br>"What else can I do? I will not lose you again Rumpelstiltskin," she said. There was no love in her voice. She was angry with him. More angry than could really be put into words.  
>He reached for her, feeling for her hand. "You could leave me here, and move on," he said simply.<br>She jerked her hand out of his and slapped him across the face. "And it would be so easy for me to move on after having pent two lives with you! After having had your child once, and now, carrying the same child again! It would be so EASY to let go! You fool!" she yelled at him.  
>He stood, frozen in shock. "You're pregnant?" he asked.<br>"Yes! And I will not risk this child never knowing her father!" Mirren yelled. She turned, heading to the door.  
>"No, Mirren, come back!" he yelled after her.<br>"The next time I come back, it will be to bring you home!" she yelled over her shoulder.  
>"No, Mirren! Don't you dare!" he yelled after her. He heard the door clang shut, and sank to the ground, wondering what he'd done.<p>It was a month later that he heard the door open. He turned towards the door.<br>"Mirren?" he asked.  
>"Oh no, I'm afraid not," A voice came.<br>"Elisa," he said, standing slowly. "How very nice of you to visit. Why are you here, may I ask?" he said.  
>She sauntered up to the bars of the cell. "Oh, well, I'm the only one who wanted to give you the news. You're lucky that I'm so generous with my time, or you would be sitting here, oblivious for the rest of your life," Elisa said.<br>"Oblivious to what exactly?" he asked carefully.  
>"It's your wife, I'm afraid," Elisa said. He couldn't see her face, but he thought she sounded... gleeful, maybe? Like she was enjoying this.<br>"What about my wife?" he asked, guard up now.  
>"Oh, so they haven't told you. You really are lucky that I decided to drop by," she, and he could hear a smile in her words.<br>"What about my wife Queridon?" he growled, pressing himself against the bars.  
>"She died, I'm afraid," Queridon said. His eyes opened, and he could see a darker spot that was Elisa in her black dress.<br>"You're lying," he said, knowing that it was true, but thinking that maybe, somehow, if he told her she was lying, it would make it so.  
>"I'm telling the truth I'm afraid," Elisa said. She was definitely happy. "You can ask the gaurds. She was trying to get you out of here you see. She went to Grinthal, and she cursed him. So he raided her castle. Your wife was killed by an arrow."<br>He didn't move.  
>"I brought you something," she said. She reached through the bars, and took his hand, putting something cold there. "I thought you might want it." She turned, and left.<br>Rumpelstiltskin turned the object over in his hands. It was a silver ring, identical to his own. 


	18. Chapter 18

Rumpelstiltskin heard the door opening, and looked up from his work.  
>"Food," the dwarf huffed. "He put the bowl down, and left. Rumpelstiltskin went back to his work, ignoring the bowl.<p>

Elisa Queridon looked at the black rat curiously.  
>"Thank you, you may go," she said. The rat scurried away. She sat there for a few minutes, thinking. Then she stood. She would pay the Imp another visit.<p>

The dwarf opened the door, looking at the Queen uneasily.  
>"Leave us," she said. He obliged quickly, closing the door.<br>She walked forward, right to the edge of the bars.  
>"Rumpelstiltskin," she called.<br>He looked up slowly from the floor.  
>"Your majesty. To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked, standing.<br>"I heard that you created something... of interest," Elisa said.  
>"Really? And what would that be?" he asked.<br>"A curse," she said.  
>He walked forward. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," he said.<br>"I think you do. My... friend, called it a curse to end all curses," Elisa said.  
>He reached the bars. "And, would your friend happen to be a black rat?" he asked.<br>"Maybe," Queridon allowed. "I want it," she said.  
>"You want it?" he asked.<br>"I do," she said.  
>"And what would you give me for it?" he asked.<br>"What do you want?" Elisa asked. He leaned forward.  
>"I want to see," he said.<br>"That's all?" she asked. He nodded.  
>"Alright," she said. She reached forward, and pressed her index and middle finger, one to each of his eyes. They stayed there for a minute, before she drew back. He opened his eyes, and smiled.<br>"Done," she said. She held her hand out. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a scroll.  
>"There you are," he said, handing it to her. She took it, and turned, walking away. He watched her go.<p> 


End file.
